Trevon Diggs is feeling himself after signing his new contract. Just over a week after his financial future has been secured with the Dallas Cowboys, he has no problem going after Dak Prescott — the face on the field of the most profitable sports franchise in the world.
During a training camp session, Prescott decided to take off on a scramble. The problem with that, defensive players aren’t allowed to touch quarterbacks in practice so once he tucks the ball that rep is dead. Maybe it was a heads-up to the offensive line that Prescott will take off sometimes, but largely no work is accomplished if Prescott brings practice to a halt once he becomes a ball carrier.
Diggs called this out while he was on the field working against the Cowboys’ No. 1 offense. He was quite unhappy with Prescott’s decision to kill an entire rep by taking off with the football. Diggs yelled at the Cowboys starting quarterback to stay in the pocket/box, and is heard on the video saying something about Prescott’s “bitch ass” to express his disappointment.
It is likely that Diggs will inform the media that he has apologized the next time that he speaks with them, but that type of language being recorded at practice is a problem. That moment didn’t appear to be thought out. It seemed instinctual.
Update: Dak Prescott told Fox 4 that the exchange was just “very healthy banter between two teammates.”
No position in American sports is as revered as the quarterback. In Any Given Sunday, Willie Beamon was justified in most of his gripes, but Coach D’Amato was correct when explaining to him that success for a football team requires the group to enthusiastically accept the leadership of the quarterback.
Disagreements are inevitable, but there has to be an acknowledgment that the person with the ball in his hand for the majority of the game is in charge. So if the starting quarterback kills a training camp rep, the defense needs to have faith that the quarterback is doing so for a beneficial reason.
In 2022, Prescott’s scrambles resulted in the worst EPA per play in the NFL among quarterbacks who scrambled at least 10 times. He is an above-average athlete at that position, so for the Cowboys to challenge for a Super Bowl Championship, plays when he scrambles need to produce much better results in 2023.
Prescott obviously has to scramble in practice at times for the Cowboys’ offense to be able to react in game, but if the result of the rep is the team’s newly minted defender calling the quarterback names, there is a disconnect that will not result in winning. Competition must always be demanded from a football team at any level, but nothing positive comes from a day in which the starting quarterback is pelted with disrespect.
Diggs may apologize before the Cowboys’ next practice, but the fact that he instinctively insulted the starting quarterback in his facemask makes it reasonable for American sports media to question the franchise.
Cowboys drama is always great for sports media, but for them to prevail in a winnable NFC they need to squelch this conflict quickly to have a shot at the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance since before 70 wins became a reality for the Chicago Bulls.