Emmitt Smith On His ‘Concern’ Following The Dallas Cowboys’ Blowout Loss
Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith has some "concern" following the team's latest loss to the New Orleans Saints.
The Cowboys were soundly defeated and dominated in their home opener against the Saints, 44-19, in Week 2 on Sunday. While it's only two weeks into the season, the Cowboys allowed touchdowns on the Saints' first six possessions. The loss snapped a 16-game regular season home wining streak and it was their first home loss in two years.
"There is some concern because of not being able to stop the run, not being in form offensively and turning the ball over and the lack of a running game," says Smith in a one-on-one interview. "All those things are major concerns. We have our work cut out for us; we have to go back to the drawing board. (Defensive coordinator) Mike Zimmer has to look at the defense, figure out why we gave up so many rushing yards on the ground. Were guys doing their own thing or were they running the actual scheme that he wanted them to run? That's on players to recognize what they did, what they did not do and get it corrected."
Rather than pointing fingers, the Cowboys took accountability for their lackluster performance with star linebacker Micah Parsons saying it was an effort issue with the players. However, Zimmer took personal accountability by saying it was coaching.
Whatever the case may be, it's clear that's it's not just one issue that plagued the Cowboys in their loss to the Saints — it was an all-around issue as Smith points out. The NFL's all-time leading rusher dismissed the idea that it was an "effort" issue as Parsons believes.
"I'm not sure if it was an effort issue, because I saw DeMarcus Lawrence, trying to chase down Alvin Kamara," says Smith. "And he gives that kind of effort every week. It was moreso a fit issue in the run game, meaning defenses have certain zones that they try to block to — or defend against — and every defensive player has to defend that particular zone, has to fill that gap, and if you're not doing that, you're creating run gapes that are so huge and you're giving offenses chances to drive a guy completely out of the way, which creates a big running gap. Some of that was happening in my opinion.
That's on coaching and players as well. Because players have to be sound in their schemes and coaches have to put together the right scheme in order for the players to maximize their potential in terms of making plays. That's on the offensive side as well as the defensive side."
The Cowboys will have the opportunity to make fans forget about their embarrassing home loss when they host the Baltimore Ravens in Week 3. The Ravens finished with the NFL's best record last season, led by two-time MVP Lamar Jackson. However, they're off to a winless start following one-possession losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders to open the season.
While Smith wouldn't make any predictions on who will win when asked, he did stress that Dallas needs to get things "corrected" before they face the Ravens.
"Your guess is about as good as mine — I'm not at practice, I don't see how these guys are practicing, but I do know they have to get things corrected," says Smith when asked if the Cowboys will bounce back and win against the Ravens. "Because Derrick Henry is coming here and you said the key word — Lamar Jackson — with his versatility at the quarterback position and creating nothing but problems for our defense. So offensively we have to answer the call when our time is up to go on the field as an offensive unit."
The 55-year-old is partnering with Depend - a disposable undergarment company — for the first time to raise awareness about prostate cancer. September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and Smith is preaching the importance of getting tested.
"I am teaming up with Depend to spread awareness around Prostate Cancer Awareness Month," says Smith. "I'm happy to just be a part of it because some of my family experienced it, my father himself dealt with it with prostate cancer. And now that I'm at the age of 55, I'm moving into that territory, it's even critical for me now to be aware of my PSA numbers so I can remain as healthy as possible."
Smith explains how Depend is donating up to $300K from product sales to support the funding of research to improve treatment of prostate cancer.
"I just want men to understand they're not in this fight by themselves," says Smith. "I want to encourage them to go visit their primary physical to get screened. The screening is simpler than it was in previous years. You can do the screening through a simple blood test. A blood test can help you understand what your PSA numbers are, what other things are and what's going on with your body. It's the things that we don't see within our bodies that can creep up on us if we don't take care of it right away and it can lead to something pretty serious down the road. Just trying to be preventative and trying to help other folks be preventative as well."
