Dante Fowler fined by NFL for penalty in Cowboys preseason debut

Former Florida Gators star Dante Fowler Jr first game with the Dallas Cowboys did not end as he would like. After receiving an unnecessary roughness penalty in Dallas’ preseason opener against the Denver Broncos, the team’s coaching staff elected to bench him for the remainder of the game. But the NFL office did not feel that was ample discipline for defensive lineman. According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, that penalty will also carry over into the form of a fine for Fowler.

“Cowboys DE Dante Fowler was fined $10,609 for an unnecessary roughness penalty that got him benched in last week’s preseason opener,” wrote Rapoport via Twitter.

Fowler was not the only one to draw a penalty for the Cowboys in their preseason opener. In fact, as a team, Dallas drew a total of 17 total penalties for the game, nearly tripling the week one preseason average of six infractions. This level of undisciplined play and drawing flags was an area of concern for the Cowboys heading into this season. Last year the Cowboys were the most penalized team in the NFL, drawing a total of 127 penalties on the season.

Fowler and the Cowboys are looking for a much better showing in their next matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday. Kickoff for Dallas, the second preseason game, is scheduled for 9 p.m. CT at the home of the Chargers, Sofi Stadium.

Barry Church criticizes Cowboys’ sloppy penalties on offense

The Dallas Cowboys‘ 17 penalties this weekend caught the eye of former star safety Barry Church, resulting in some harsh words for the offense on Colin Howherd’s show this week. Eleven of the team’s penalties came on offense.

“It did look a little sloppy to me,” Church said. “We all know it’s the preseason, we know it’s a lot of young guys out there… Seventeen penalties is 17 penalties. To me, that’s a little bit worrisome… Look at that playoff game versus the 49ers, they had 14 penalties.

“This is a mark of just being an undisciplined team. When you go towards the regular season, when games really count, I’m not sure this Cowboys team is good enough to continually overcome big penalty numbers in a game. So, this is something this coaching staff and these leaders on the team need to rectify if they want to have a successful season this year.”

The flags on the Cowboys cost them 129 yards in the loss versus Denver. It was also the most penalties for any team this weekend. The league average was 6.6 penalties during the first week of preseason games, according to David Helman.