Von Miller’s regular-season debut for the Dallas Cowboys against the New York Giants came with a catch. Despite all the hype around the Texas native’s homecoming, the 37-year-old edge rusher barely left the sideline, playing a limited snap count that quickly raised questions. Ahead of Sunday’s clash with the Washington Commanders, Miller addressed the workload himself, chalking it up plainly to his age.
“I didn’t play much. I only played 11 snaps, but we didn’t have the type of game for me to like to get busy and active,” Miller said on his “Free Range” podcast. “I’m not tripping. I’m 37 years old; I know exactly how it’s supposed to go for me to have the type of season that I want to have. We got to get up on guys, whether that’s three points, whether that’s seven points, whether that’s 10 points, and when we get up on guys, then I can pin my ears back and do all of the nasty stuff that I know I can still do and get eight sacks roll out of bed, like all the stuff that I said I can do.”
Against the Giants, Miller felt the team’s changing game plan didn’t require him to do as much, with his fellow defensemen playing a more active role.
“But we’re still trying to fight for leverage in that game,” explained Miller. “You know, it’s not really a place for me. We got all these other guys. It wasn’t a space for me to go out there and be Von Miller. Like, they’re running the ball. Like, I’m not saying I can’t play the run; I can play the run. But, like, we got guys in there that do this for a living. Like, Rashan Gary. Like, he play the run for lunch.”
Von Miller’s first regular-season game as a Cowboy didn’t go the way anyone hoped. Facing the Giants in Week 1, he finished with nothing on the stat sheet: no tackles, no assists, no sacks. But don’t expect him to sound worried about it.
Miller made it clear the team isn’t hanging its head, and after 16 years in the league, it takes a lot more than one quiet game to shake him.
“The biggest improvement that you have to make in a season is from week one to week two, and then you kind get set in stone about what type of team you’re going to be throughout the season,” Miller concluded.
Miller came into the season with 138.5 career sacks, more than any other active player, and he was fresh off a nine-sack year with Washington. So this isn’t someone who’s lost his edge. At 37, he’s still leaning on the same thing that’s kept him in the league this long: reps and experience.
“You just stay true,” Miller said after the game (via Dallas Sports Journal). “You can’t really learn without repetition and experience. That was just one game. Whether you had success or failure, you just keep building on it. And, yeah, it was just one game. You’re just taking one game at a time and look back at the end of the season and see where you are.”
That mindset probably comes in handy, because the Cowboys’ defense left plenty to clean up. They gave up 394 total yards and let the Giants convert third downs at an 82 percent rate: 9-of-11.
Miller’s point tracks with what a lot of people are already saying. If Dallas wants to win games, the defense needs to hold up late so Dak Prescott and the offense get a real shot to close things out in the fourth quarter.
Next up are the Washington Commanders, and this one carries a little extra weight since it’s the Cowboys’ home opener. Kickoff at AT&T Stadium is Sunday at 3:25 p.m. CT on Fox.
Von Miller opens up on his time with the Commanders
Sunday’s game means something a little different for Von Miller. He’s lining up against the Washington Commanders, the team he called home just last season and felt would end his NFL career there. In his one year there, he racked up 16 solo tackles, 10 assists, and 9.0 sacks across 17 games.
When Miller signed with Dallas back in August, he never actually left the NFC East; he just switched sides. And now both teams walk into this one at 0-1, trying to worsen it to a 0-2 start.
For Miller, though, the record isn’t really the point. At 37, he’s just soaking in the moment, knowing full well another season isn’t promised.
“I think gratitude is the emotion that I feel more than anything, being appreciative to even have this moment,” Miller said on his podcast. “I’m 37 years old. I’m playing for the Dallas Cowboys, going against the Washington Commanders, the team that I played on the year before, that I learned so much about, that I bought into, and felt like when I was there, I was going to be a Washington Commander for the rest of my career.”
He’s seen this rivalry from Washington’s side before. Now he gets to feel it from Dallas.
“It’d be dope to experience it on the other side, and the history of this game, the Commanders versus the Cowboys,” Miller said. “It’s the deep history behind it, and I’m so appreciative to be able to see it from both sides.”
For Miller, Sunday isn’t just another game on the schedule. It’s a chance to prove himself after the Week 1 no-show, and doing it against a former team might just mean a tad more.