FRISCO, Texas — Brian Schottenheimer said Wednesday at The Star that he has zero doubts Jaishawn Barham will play well Sunday against the Washington Commanders. The Dallas Cowboys have linebacker DeMarvion Overshown working back from a hamstring strain he sustained in the 28-20 season-opening loss to the New York Giants.
Barham, a third-round pick out of Michigan at No. 92, played 34 defensive snaps in his NFL debut. He finished with 6 tackles, including 1 for a loss. Overshown played 51 snaps before leaving in the fourth quarter, and Schottenheimer said Monday that he could miss one to two weeks.
A player making a mistake does not mean Dallas has stopped trusting him, Schottenheimer said.
“We’re not going to put guys out there that we don’t trust, one. Just because a player makes a mistake doesn’t mean we don’t trust them,” Schottenheimer said. “Just like me calling a bad play. First play of the game, Dak didn’t lose trust in my ability to call plays. I’m pretty good at it. But at the end of the day, I think Jaishawn Barham’s really smart. He’s a really good football player. Did he play his best football ever? Nope, did not. Just like I probably didn’t call my best game ever.”
“But I have zero doubts that he will play really well in this game, whether he’s next to Dee Winters, whether he’s next to Shemar James, whether he’s on the sidelines watching,” Schottenheimer continued. “I think whenever he’s in there, he will play really, really well, just like Malachi Lawrence and just like Donovan Ezeiruaku did. And all the young players are gaining valuable, valuable experience that, again, I think will help them settle down as the season progresses and make them more and more confident in what we’re doing and then what they’re doing.”
Dallas Cowboys Weigh Green Dot Options Without DeMarvion Overshown
Overshown wore the green dot against New York and handled the defensive calls. Dallas has multiple players who can take it on, Schottenheimer said, and Barham is loud when he communicates.
“I mean, he’s a rookie. I mean, he’s taking a lot of things in himself,” Schottenheimer explained. “As always, we have multiple guys that can do it. All the confidence in the world in Jaishawn. He is actually very loud when he communicates. But he would do fine in that, but we do have other things that we’re looking at.”
Barham wore the green dot in his preseason debut at Arizona in August. Dee Winters played 40 defensive snaps Sunday with 4 tackles and 1 for a loss. Shemar James played 1 defensive snap and 16 on special teams after recording 91 tackles in 14 games with 6 starts as a rookie in 2025. On Monday, Schottenheimer called Winters the most experienced of the group and named practice squad veteran Curtis Robinson as another option.
Brian Schottenheimer Stresses Attention To Detail For Dallas Cowboys
Malachi Lawrence, the No. 23 overall pick, played 30 defensive snaps and made 5 tackles in his debut. Donovan Ezeiruaku led Dallas with 10 tackles and added a half-sack and a forced fumble.
Schottenheimer opened Wednesday by talking to the team about attention to detail, from receiver splits to body position on kickoff returns.
“We have our different packages, but in terms of, hey, this guy’s been promoted, this guy’s been demoted, no, absolutely not,” Schottenheimer said. “And, again, back to business. We started the day. We talked about attention to details with the team, and I think that’s an important part. Some of the things that we did, we just kind of shot ourselves in the foot.”
“And so small things matter, and whether it’s receiver splits, whether it’s communication, whether it’s body position on kickoff return, we got to [be] better with the little things,” Schottenheimer added.
Safety Malik Hooker had surgery Tuesday on the fracture he sustained Sunday. Dallas hosts Washington at AT&T Stadium on Sunday at 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.
