Jerry Jones answers for Terence Steele's struggles protecting Dak Prescott
During his weekly radio call-in on Friday, Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones had to answer for one of his team’s most glaring problems on Sunday against the Eagles. Starting right tackle Terence Steele allowed 12 pressures with four sacks on QB Dak Prescott, according to ProFootballFocus, but played all of the offensive snaps anyway.
“We got a lot of confidence in Steele,” Jones told the hosts on 105.3 The Fan, via Jon Machota. “That was a pretty impactful situation we had there with the pressures. But we can do better there. We can do better with help there as well.”
Steele talked to reporters himself on Thursday and owned up to his less-than-ideal performance on Sunday. The Cowboys facing one of the worst teams in the league in Week 10 could help him wipe some memories quickly.
“Learn from your mistakes,” the right tackle said. “No one is harder on myself than myself. It’s a learning experience.”
Head coach Mike McCarthy stood up for the fourth-year lineman as well this week, citing the injury he suffered near the end of the 2022 season as a reason why this year has been more of a struggle. Reporters had the opportunity to ask Steele about his knee and if it bothered him, to which he responded: “A little bit.”
“A little bit,” Steele said. “I definitely had ups and downs. It’s been good overall.”
“Like anything, anytime anyone has a major joint injury, that first year back, it’s a challenge,” McCarthy said on Tuesday. “There are things he has to continue to work through because of the injury…But yes, it wasn’t his best game…
“He is definitely still fighting back a little bit from the injury.”
Steele locked in through 2028
Last season, Steele played so well that he earned a rare large contract after his third season so neither he nor Dallas needed to worry about his future after the 2023 season. The former undrafted free agent out of Texas Tech allowed just one sack, according to PFF. He then signed a five-year, $86.8 million deal, which included $50 million guaranteed, this summer.
Despite taking the hits on Sunday, Dak Prescott had his right tackle’s back in front of the press at an event on Tuesday.
“Terence would be the first to tell you that he wants to play better and I know he’s going to play better,” Prescott said on Tuesday. “He’s a guy who’s faced this adversity before. You talk about early in his career, undrafted free agent, he had to step in for guys immediately and didn’t have the success or maybe didn’t play to his standards early and then got it going, had some great years under him.
“He’s not going to allow one game to put him down in a dump and he’s not going to allow one game to dictate the way he plays the rest of the season. Something we’ll talk about is trusting in each other. Obviously, I’m using my feet, I’m getting out of the pocket. Use your athleticism. He’ll do that as we move forward and things will be fine.”
The Cowboys face the New York Giants in AT&T Stadium on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET. The Week 10 matchup has the largest spread of the season so far with Dallas favored by 16.5 points.