The Cowboys came out of Sunday night with more than a loss on their hands. They came away with a problem they can’t ignore anymore: the defense didn’t communicate well enough against the New York Giants.
That’s not a soft diagnosis, either. Jerry Jones said it.
Brian Schottenheimer said it. The players said it.
Now the question is what Dallas does next.
Schottenheimer made it plain on Wednesday that the issue caught the staff off guard. “It was surprising to us that we didn’t communicate well,” Schotty said on Wednesday, according to Jon Machota of The Athletic.
“We were disappointed. We’re gonna communicate better this week.
Did I see it coming? Absolutely not.”
Jones was even shorter when asked what needs to improve in Week 2: “Communicate better.”
Edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku echoed the same theme from the player side. “Communication is two-way right.
It’s giving and receiving. That’s just something we’ve got to tighten up," Ezeiruaku said, per Clarence Hill of DLLS Cowboys.
Schottenheimer also made sure the blame didn’t land on just one spot. He pushed back on the idea that this was solely a linebacker issue, even though the green dot is currently with DeMarvion Overshown. Jones, though, was less careful with his wording.
"I'm not going to put it on one position. That's not fair.
The ball gets thrown outside to (Singletary) outside and there's not a linebacker or somebody there and everyone assumes it's the linebackers. It's not just the linebackers.
So let me be very clear about that," Schottenheimer said, per ESPN's Todd Archer.
"The (linebackers) have to fill their assigned areas on the defense," Jones said.
The linebacker situation only gets trickier from here. Overshown, who handles the green dot and is a starter, is dealing with a strained hamstring and will miss at least one game, with two looking possible. That leaves the job likely in the hands of rookie Jaishawn Barham, whose lack of experience could make an already shaky setup even harder to manage.
So Dallas has a choice: wait and hope the communication sharpens on its own, or go find help.
Bobby Wagner keeps coming up for a reason. The Cowboys were linked to him throughout the offseason, and even after Week 1, the case for bringing him in only got stronger. Wagner still offers high-end play, but just as important for Dallas, he brings the kind of experience that matters when the defense needs a steady voice wearing the green dot.
At 36, Wagner doesn’t look like a player whose game has fallen off. In 2025, he ranked fifth in Pro Football Focus run defense grade and second in pass-rush grade, and his 78.7 overall PFF grade placed him in the top 10.
He would be an upgrade over Dee Winters, who struggled in Week 1, and he’d also be a more reliable green-dot option than Overshown, who had never handled that responsibility before this season.
With so much riding on 2026, Dallas can’t afford to leave this kind of issue to chance. If the Cowboys want the communication problems fixed, Wagner is the clearest answer available right now. And the sooner they make the move, the sooner he can help.
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