‘Design Stuff That Forces The Issue’: Dallas Cowboys OC Klayton Adams Admits Offense Must Change To Get George Pickens The Ball
FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Klayton Adams said Thursday that Dallas has to design plays that force the issue to George Pickens, two days after owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Pickens needs the ball coming his way more. Pickens caught 2 passes for 48 yards on 4 targets in Sunday’s 33-30 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Adams said the plays called for Pickens have failed to reach him for different reasons from one call to the next. Through eight games, Pickens has 39 catches for 533 yards and 2 touchdowns on 62 targets.
“If he was just getting, like, straight man-to-man coverage, obviously it’s a little bit easier there. Just like any time you’re struggling, like, the answer is always more than one thing,” Adams said. “You call something to get it to them, and the ball doesn’t go there for a reason X or a reason Y. And you call something else, and the ball doesn’t end up there for a reason X or a reason Y, and they’re not even always the same reasons.”
“But, yeah, I think a little bit of it unlucky, a little bit of it, we’ve got to design stuff that forces the issue to them. And then sometimes when we do, we gotta make more happen with it than just an incompletion or a three- or four-yard gain,” Adams continued. “So obviously the goal is to score a touchdown regardless of who you’re getting the ball to, but he’s definitely somebody that we would love to have, get the ball to and get going early.”
Moving Pickens around is one option, Adams said, and Pickens has never said no to anything the staff has asked of him. Dallas threw to Pickens 4 times against Arizona after targeting him 6 times in the Week 7 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
“Sometimes it’s moving him around. Sometimes it’s anticipating a different coverage. Sometimes maybe it’s we need to maybe force the issue with him to do something that’s outside of his comfort zone,” Adams explained. “Not that he’s ever said no or anything like that, but that’s all I mean by design is just, we can just continue to try to be creative to do things with him.”
Klayton Adams Calls George Pickens A Premium NFL Playmaker
Later in the session, Adams described the Cowboys as having a premium quarterback and two premium receivers. CeeDee Lamb leads the team with 60 catches for 709 yards and 6 touchdowns.
“Extremely, extremely valuable. Yeah, he’s a premium playmaker in the NFL, and I’ve never been on a team where we had one of those, let alone two,” Adams said.
In 2025, his first season in Dallas, Pickens made his first Pro Bowl after catching 93 passes for 1,429 yards and 9 touchdowns. He is playing this season on the franchise tag at $27.298 million.
Jerry Jones Wants More Targets For Pickens Against Indianapolis Colts
Jones made his comments Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan’s “Shan & RJ,” where he called getting the ball to Pickens the clearest thing Dallas can do differently. Pickens was limited in Wednesday’s practice with a hamstring injury.
“He needs the ball coming his way more,” Jones said. “And there’s your good case. You say, what can you do differently than we did out there the other day? We get the ball in that direction more.”
Dallas is 3-5 and visits the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, with kickoff set for noon CT on FOX. The NFL trade deadline is Nov. 10.
