Skip Bayless wasted no time taking a shot at the Cowboys as training camp opened, and his target was the same familiar one: Dak Prescott.
Bayless reacted on X on Thursday after Prescott showed up to camp wearing a shirt celebrating Dallas’ last championship run. From there, he went straight at the quarterback and the team’s new defensive coordinator, Christian Parker.
"The Cowboys have convinced themselves they're a SBowl team," Bayless tweeted. "Dak, 33, arrived at camp wearing a T-shirt celebrating the last Dallas SBowl 30 yrs ago.
He's 2-5 in playoffs. Christian Parker, 34, is being hailed as the savior - the next great DC.
He's never called 1 defensive snap."
The criticism lands in a familiar place for Prescott and the Cowboys. Prescott has taken Dallas to the playoffs in half of the seasons he has played, but he still has not gotten the team beyond the divisional round. He played only eight games in 2024 and went 3-5, and Dallas missed the postseason.
Last season, Prescott put up strong numbers, but the defense couldn’t hold up its end, and the Cowboys finished 7-9-1 for a second straight year without a playoff berth. Bayless clearly isn’t sold on the idea that a new voice on defense changes the equation.
Prescott, though, has no interest in lowering the bar.
Speaking at his Faith, Fight, Finish Foundation event, he made it clear that the Super Bowl remains the standard.
"That's what's left for me," Prescott said. "It has always been my mindset. It's the one thing I truly love about the Cowboys organization and the fanbase is it's that (Super Bowl) or nothing."
He said he welcomes that pressure and believes anything less than a championship falls short of what Dallas should expect.
Since arriving in Dallas in 2016, Prescott has led the Cowboys to five playoff appearances, but the deep run that defines the job in Dallas still hasn’t happened.
In Other News...
Cowboys Camp Opened With An Injury Scare And Early Standouts
The Cowboys opened training camp in Oxnard with the kind of first-day energy that usually tells you very little and a little bit at the same time. Everyone was cleared to go when practice began, and the early buzz centered on the usual camp mix of veterans settling in, young players trying to force their way into the conversation, and a handful of standouts making sure their names were hard to miss.
Jaydon Blue flashed burst, George Pickens drew attention for how locked in he looked, and Dak Prescott found a familiar rhythm with CeeDee Lamb as the offense got its first work in front of the new camp backdrop. There was also a defensive play that turned heads and a strong grab by Brevyn Spann-Ford, but the bigger question out of day one is how the Cowboys manage the early bumps while sorting out which of these opening impressions are real and which are just the first-day version of summer hope. [Read more 🡒]
Jerry Jones Looks Even Smarter After Quinnen Williams Said This
Quinnen Williams arrived in Dallas with the kind of reputation the Cowboys have been chasing for years, a defensive force who can change the feel of a front seven almost immediately. After coming over from the Jets, he has already talked like someone who understands why he was brought in, pointing to the chance to help a defense that needed a reset and to give the Cowboys a sturdier foundation on that side of the ball.
Williams also made clear this move is about more than his own next contract or personal rsum. He said he wants to win for Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb as much as for himself, a line that fits neatly with the leadership presence Dallas hoped it was getting when it made the trade. If the defense can start looking more like a unit built to support the roster around it, the deal will look even better for Jerry Jones. [Read more 🡒]
Christian Parker Has One Rivalry Twist Cowboys Fans Wont Love
Christian Parkers arrival as the Cowboys defensive coordinator already stood out because of his age, making him the youngest in franchise history. But a recent podcast appearance added a quirky layer to the story, one that makes his background a little more complicated than the usual coaching bio. Parker talked about growing up in a part of the country where football loyalties can run in different directions, and he also noted that he once had jerseys tied to both sides of the Cowboys-Commanders divide.
The detail that jumps out most is the pair of early jerseys he remembered owning, one a white Deion Sanders Cowboys jersey and the other a white Darrell Green Washington jersey. It is the kind of personal history that does not change Parkers job, but it does give Cowboys fans a fresh reason to look twice at the new voice leading their defense. In a division where old rivalries still matter, even a coachs childhood wardrobe can become part of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]