KaVontae Turpin’s Fair Catch Missteps Are Costly-but Fixable
The Dallas Cowboys have been their own worst enemy in recent weeks, and amid the miscues in their 44-30 loss to the Detroit Lions, one particular issue keeps showing up-and it’s coming from a usually reliable source.
KaVontae Turpin, the Cowboys’ explosive All-Pro return man, has made the same costly mistake two weeks in a row: signaling for a fair catch, then trying to run with the ball anyway. That’s an automatic flag, and in both cases, it backed up the Dallas offense with poor field position. In games where every inch counts, you just can’t afford to give the other team free yardage.
It happened first against the Kansas City Chiefs, then again versus the Lions. Two straight weeks.
Same error. Same result: a penalty that stalls momentum and puts added pressure on the offense to dig out of a hole.
At this level, that’s not a mistake you expect from a veteran like Turpin. He’s in his fourth year, and returning kicks is what he does.
He’s been a weapon in the return game since he entered the league-quick, elusive, and dangerous in open space. But these last two weeks have been uncharacteristic, and the timing couldn’t be worse with playoff positioning on the line.
Some fans are calling for a benching, but the Cowboys don’t seem ready to pull the plug on one of their most dynamic special teams players. And Jerry Jones made it clear he’s not panicking-he just wants the mistake corrected.
“Well, he’s just got to quit that,” Jones said during his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan. “If you hold that hand up at that critical juncture, they'll call that a fair catch, and if you try to run with the ball, they'll give you a penalty for it. That’s pretty simple.”
Jones isn’t wrong. The rule is straightforward: signal for a fair catch, and the play ends when the ball is caught.
Running after that is a no-go, and it’s not up for interpretation. Turpin knows the rule-he’s played too much football not to.
That’s part of what makes this stretch so puzzling.
But Jones isn’t ready to hit the panic button. In fact, he sees it as more of a mental lapse than a trend.
“He’s caught a lot of kicks,” Jones added. “He’s caught a lot of punts that he doesn’t have that problem with.
You go with the odds here. How often has that happened in his career?
A fraction of time. Not enough to even be a concern other than stop it.
Concentrate on it and stop it.”
That’s the message: focus, clean it up, and move forward.
Turpin’s track record suggests this is more of a blip than a breakdown. He’s been one of the most electric returners in the league, and the Cowboys will need him at his best as the postseason approaches. But with the margin for error shrinking every week, they can’t afford these kinds of mental mistakes-especially not from one of their key playmakers.
So for now, Turpin keeps his job. But the leash might be getting shorter. And the directive from the top couldn’t be clearer.
Just stop it.