Panic around the Dallas Cowboys is building after a 2-3 start that included a home loss to undrafted free agent quarterback Jalon Daniels and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Dallas’ defense has been pitiful thus far, but the players are doing what they can to change that. Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown said this week he and his defensive teammates held a players-only meeting following the Bucs loss to figure out where they’re going wrong and how to fix it.
Longtime Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is dubious of whether it’ll help, and he explained on the New Heights podcast that players-only meetings can signal bad times ahead.
“I think you’re dead,” Tomlin said. “… If it did occur, I’d like to not hear about it. The fact that you hear about it is what makes it B.S.”
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Coach Tomlin knows, if your team is having a players-only meeting your season is COOKED
NEW EPISODE OUT NOW !!!! @allstate pic.twitter.com/s7BxDm4Hsg
— New Heights (@newheightshow) October 14, 2026
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer has a different perspective, one rooted in a player-first culture he’s trying to cultivate in Dallas.
“I love it,” Schottenheimer told reporters this week. “I’ve said from the very beginning, the best teams I’ve ever been around are led by the locker room. And my information that I received from some of those guys that called that meeting, it was very productive. It was very open and honest.”
Dallas’ defense has struggled mightily under first-year coordinator Christian Parker, so the team brought in veteran coach Mike Pettine as a senior defensive assistant this week. That was also considered to be a panic move within NFL circles.
Things won’t get easier for Dallas with a road game against Jordan Love and the high-flying Green Bay Packers offense on Sunday.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Cowboys HC defends players-only meeting after Mike Tomlin criticism