Cowboys news: Dak Prescott says the playoffs are only the floor for Dallas

Reaching playoffs the ‘minimum’ for Dak Prescott, Cowboys in 2026 – Tommy Yarrish, DallasCowboys.com

Dak Prescott wants big things for the Cowboys this season.

FRISCO, Texas – The Dallas Cowboys have missed the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.

A record of 14-19-1 across that time span is evidently not where Dak Prescott and his teammates want to be. Heading into a 2026 season with a new-look defense and almost all of a top offense in the league returning, Prescott views reaching the postseason as the bare minimum.

“It sucks,” Prescott said of not making the playoffs in the last two years. “Definitely. But we’re pushing. That’s our goal, that’s a minimum. When you have a team like this and they’ve done everything they have in the offseason, obviously we got to push and get better on offense, but when we know we’re already improving on defense, that’s the minimum. That’s everybody’s goal in here.”

Not that any motivation is needed to be able to achieve that goal, but Prescott is motivated by some of his teammates that play at a high level, but still haven’t played a snap of NFL playoff football yet in their careers.

“To hear [Quinnen Williams] say he’s never been to the playoffs, that’s what you want to do it for,” Prescott said. “And that’s what I told him. I said, “‘I’ll get you the playoffs. I’m going to need you to go help us win it.'”

If the Cowboys do reach the playoffs, another player Prescott will lean on to help them win is wide receiver George Pickens, who has played in two career playoff games with Pittsburgh but has yet to win one.

What we learned at Cowboys minicamp: Which young players could make early impacts? – Joseph Hoyt, Dallas Morning News

There’s plenty to dissect from Cowboys’ minicamp.

Don’t forget the other first-round pick

Cowboys rookie outside linebacker Malachi Lawrence doesn’t mind being in the shadow as the “other” first-round pick in Dallas. He said that’s a comfortable place for him, dating to college, or even during the draft process, as he rose in public opinion to eventually becoming a first-round pick.

“It really doesn’t phase me,” Lawrence said. 

And while Downs has earned a lot of the hype he’s received, Lawrence has earned some recognition, too. Lawrence and Rashan Gary were the team’s first outside linebackers on the first team defensive snap of minicamp. It’s hard to truly evaluate pass rushers in minicamp because there are no pads and they want quarterbacks to be kept clean, but Lawrence’s speed was on display. That should be encouraging for Cowboys fans. The biggest question about Lawrence heading into his rookie season is whether he can harness the 4.52 40-yard dash speed and the 1.59 10-yard split he showed at the combine. He didn’t always during his time in college. It looks like he’s starting to in the NFL with the help of outside linebacker coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe and pass rush consultant B.T. Jordan. 

“With the false stepping, I’ve seen great work, just hitting it every day and making it one of my key focuses so I can use my explosiveness to my advantage when getting off the ball,” Lawrence said.

Who’s the true RB2?

The Cowboys, it appears, are already preparing for the long run with running back Javonte Williams. The Cowboys didn’t use Williams in team drills in minicamp. Just like last year, he probably won’t be a workhorse in training camp practices, either. That not only allows the Cowboys to keep him fresh, but it also allows them to get a closer look at their two second-year running backs, Phil Mafah and Jaydon Blue.

Both bring different qualities. Mafah is a balanced bruiser who they believe could replicate a lot of what Williams can do, if needed. They believe Blue can be a difference maker. There’s a chance they aren’t competing against each other, per se, but rather trying to cement their own places in the backfield. 

“There’s nothing that would make me and the offensive staff more ecstatic than for Jaydon to take the step we hope he takes, because of the one-two punch that he and Javonte could potentially have,” Schottenheimer said. “Jaydon’s ability to hurt you catching the ball out of the backfield, that’s a dimension that we — not didn’t have — didn’t do as much because we chose to throw the ball to CeeDee [Lamb], George [Pickens] and [Jake Ferguson] and guys like that. I do think it is different.”

The Cowboys also have a lot of trust in veteran Malik Davis. 

We know Williams will get the brunt of the work this season. The others will likely get the brunt of the work before the season begins, however.

‘He doesn’t like that’ – Dallas Cowboys are planning to give George Pickens something that will take his game to the next level – Mauricio Rodriguez, AtoZ Sports

Dallas plans to make George Pickens more versatile in 2026.

Cowboys to move George Pickens around

“As we talk about evolving, I would say the biggest thing we’re doing is we want to move George around more,” Schottenheimer told reporters at the end of minicamp. “He’s not just going to live at X. He doesn’t like that anyways. We want to put him in the slot some. We want to get him isolated some to the front side, the same side as the tight end.”

Playing in the slot would be a major change for Pickens. Out of the 91 receivers with the most targets last season, Pickens ranked 90th in slot snaps percentage at 10%, per Pro Football Focus.

Based on the production he had, that shouldn’t be a concern. You don’t always have to be multiple to be efficient. Pickens was one of the best receivers in football despite not moving around.

And yet, if the Cowboys find a way to make CeeDee Lamb and Pickens interchangeable, the passing game will only get much more difficult for defenses to figure out. Lamb is already very efficient from the slot, so expect him to remain the main guy for the job, but defenses will have a lot more to worry with both receivers lining up everywhere.

As far as the football IQ that goes into playing the two positions, Schottenheimer isn’t worried.

“When George came back, I was a little bit, not worried, but I was like, ‘it’s going to be interesting to see how much he remembers because we’ve made minor adjustments,” Schottenheimer said. “But he was on it, man. In all the mocks and the walkthroughs that we were doing, he was terrific.”

Dallas Cowboys’ Most Notable Injury Updates Following Mandatory Minicamp – Mike Moraitis, SI.com

The latest on the injury front in Dallas.

Dak Prescott

Prescott (knee) was dealing with some knee soreness, which was a result of fluid, according to Clarence Hill of DLLS Cowboys.

Schottenheimer wasn’t worried about the issue, and that was very evident after Prescott was nearly full on Day 1 of minicamp before turning in a full session on Day 2.

For now, there doesn’t appear to be a reason to worry, unless you are superstitious and believe in the even-numbered-year curse many believe Prescott has been a victim of.

Donovan Ezeiruaku & DaRon Bland

Schottenheimer revealed that both players are “doing great” and Ezeiruaku (hip) and Bland (foot) have shown signs of progress.

Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Ezeiruaku is slowly adding more to his plate in recent weeks, and Bland did “a little bit more” during OTAs.

The expectation has been that both will be a full go at or after the start of training camp and there has been nothing to suggest that won’t be the case.

Jalen Thompson

Thompson (pectoral) was able to turn in limited practices at minicamp, which is a sign of progress after he only did rehab group work at OTAs.

The Cowboys’ prized free-agent signing, Thompson is dealing with a pectoral strain, but it isn’t clear when he suffered the injury. Nevertheless, he should be fine for training camp.

---

Daily discussion question: With minicamp over, was the offseason a success?