Through the first five weeks of the season, the Dallas Cowboys are 2-3 and once again facing criticism for their disappointing defensive performance. As that happened, Dallas reportedly implemented major changes on defense. One of them was allowing defensive coordinator Christian Parker to move from the sideline to the coaches’ booth, according to owner/general manager Jerry Jones.
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“You search for what we can do differently that would give us better results,” said Jones on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday. “That’s the main emphasis that we would spend some, let’s say, specific attention to areas. We’re going to coach the defense from not on the field, but up above. Parker’s going up above. You should be looking for ways to adjust and make changes to improve. That’s the point of improving from the results we had the last few weeks.”
However, head coach Brian Schottenheimer has added another layer to Parker moving to the coaching booth during the games. Per The Athletic’s Jon Machota, Schottenheimer revealed that there are no plans to move Parker from the sidelines ahead of the Week 6 matchup against the Green Bay Packers.
“None of those decisions have been finalized,” said Schottenheimer. “There’s a good chance Christian is on the field. Christian Parker is our defensive coordinator. All (defensive) decisions will go through him.”
Jones’ comments surfaced after the Cowboys’ 24-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where the defensive unit once again failed to impress. For now, it remains to be seen whether Parker will be in the coaching booth or on the sidelines against the Packers, but the defensive struggles are hard to ignore.
After the first five weeks of the season, Dallas’ defense ranks 31st in the league with 395.4 yards allowed per game and dead last with 168.4 rushing yards per game. At the same time, the unit ranks 25th in the league with 27.2 points allowed per game. And the Week 5 loss to the Bucs marked the 12th straight game Dallas has allowed at least 20 points.
That’s why the criticism around Parker’s defense is obvious.
“I don’t want to be an a**hole, but he’s being outclassed right now,” long-time college and NFL coach Wink Martindale said. “Parker, the defensive coordinator. He was in the home opener, against the Giants. They’ve got to stop the run.”
The Cowboys, meanwhile, have been doing everything they can to improve the defense. They have hired longtime defensive coach Mike Pettine as a senior defensive assistant. At the same time, the team also held a players’ meeting on Monday, according to linebacker DeMarvion Overshown.
“Looking ourselves in the mirror,” said Overshown. “Putting what we wanted our standard to be, we put that on the board. We went by bullet point, bullet point. Are we holding up to this? Are we being this? As a unit, how can we get closer? What is it? Just hearing from all of us.
“It really wasn’t like a fire drill conversation, it was more so, ‘What can I do to help you? What do I expect from you on Sundays, or every Monday walk throughs?’ We’ve got to talk to each other like that because the ship is only going to go as far as the weakest person on the boat. As long as we all in this together, I think we’re going to be great. I know we’re going to be there.”
That said, Dallas will not hit the road to face the Packers in Week 6. While the defensive struggles are obvious, it remains to be seen whether Parker will be on the sidelines or in the booth.