‘He Was Removed’: Brian Schottenheimer Details How Dallas Cowboys Handled Rashan Gary After Costly Penalty

FRISCO, Texas — After his roughing-the-passer penalty in Sunday’s 33-30 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals, outside linebacker Rashan Gary was removed from the game and talked to, Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Monday. The Cowboys addressed it again in Monday’s meeting, according to Schottenheimer.

Dallas led 27-17 with 2:23 left when Gardner Minshew II threw incomplete on third-and-10 from the Dallas 29. Gary was flagged for roughing the passer, the 15-yard penalty moved Arizona to the Dallas 14, and Trey McBride caught a 14-yard touchdown on the next play.

“I don’t know if there’s a consideration of if you’re gonna make that penalty, you shouldn’t come back,” Schottenheimer said. “We pulled him out, talked to him about it, addressed it. We addressed it today, again, in the meeting. RG is aware it was a big play in the game, but it’s not the only play in the game that affected the outcome of the game. But he was removed, and it was discussed.”

Rashan Gary Penalty Came During Arizona Cardinals’ Late Comeback

The Cowboys acquired Gary from the Green Bay Packers in March for a 2027 fourth-round pick. He made the Pro Bowl in 2024 and had 2 assisted tackles and 2 quarterback hits against Arizona.

Cowboys COO and executive vice president Stephen Jones said Monday on 105.3 The Fan’s “K&C Masterpiece” that mistakes come with how fast the game is played, including from some of the team’s best players. He said Gary has done good things for Dallas.

“When you play this game and you play it as fast as they play it, you’re going to have people are going to make mistakes, and some of our great ones have those mistakes,” Jones said. “And that’s part of it when you play the game as fast as they’re playing it. And certainly, he’s done some really, really good things for us.”

Schottenheimer pointed to the pass rush as something Dallas has improved. The Cowboys sacked Arizona quarterbacks 5 times for 42 yards, and Quinnen Williams had 7 tackles and 2 sacks.

“Again, I think the first thing I would say is you look at our ability to rush the passer yesterday, that was something that we got better at,” Schottenheimer explained. “Again, can’t talk enough about Quinnen. I thought you saw some really good pressure packages from us yesterday. That’s the first thing I would point to.”

Schottenheimer Says Communication Broke Down On McBride, Wilson Touchdowns

McBride had been a focus of the Cowboys’ game plan all week. Schottenheimer said Dallas blew the coverage on his touchdown.

“Yeah, we had a blown coverage on that,” Schottenheimer said. “The communication wasn’t up to par.”

After Brandon Aubrey’s 41-yard field goal put Dallas up 30-24 with 1:09 left, Minshew drove Arizona 80 yards in 8 plays. Michael Wilson caught a 13-yard touchdown with 6 seconds left, another play that came down to communication in the secondary. Schottenheimer does not think the scheme is too difficult for the players to pick up.

“I don’t think so. No, I think at the end of the day, it’s different players doing different things,” Schottenheimer said. “And again, we go into a lot of this, going back, it’s part of giving and receiving information. And so that’s all part of it.”

Dallas is 3-5 and visits the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Nov. 8, at Lucas Oil Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon CT on FOX.