FRISCO, Texas — Dak Prescott said Thursday that there are no egos between receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, three days before the Dallas Cowboys open against the New York Giants.
Kickoff at MetLife Stadium is Sunday at 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC. Lamb and Pickens are brothers to Prescott, and their relationship extends through the receiver room to the offensive line.
“There’s no egos,” Prescott said. “Both of those guys are selfless. They want to see each other succeed. They’re probably each other’s biggest cheerleaders to that extent. So yeah, obviously they’re brothers and that relationship extends.”
“Yeah, that one’s special, but extends throughout the receiver room, extends to the offensive line,” Prescott continued. “We’ve got a really unique group and just how close we are and how much we care for each other. And I think their relationship is the epitome of that.”
Prescott said only one of them can get the ball at a time, “so they’ll probably be getting it the next play, so don’t get mad and miss your opportunity.” Lamb played 14 games last season and Pickens played all 17, and the two are in their second full season lining up together.
Klayton Adams, CeeDee Lamb On Two No. 1 Receivers
Offensive coordinator Klayton Adams said Thursday that Lamb and Pickens are “total opposites” who do not think about or respond to things the same way. Two No. 1 receivers on one team usually raise the question of who gets more balls, Adams said.
“It’s fun to watch, and it’s unique because they’re really not jealous of each other,” Adams said. “I think that’s probably something that you would think of when you get kind of two number ones on the same team, is who’s going to be getting more balls and be upset about it. Those guys never are that way. They’re fired up for each other. I think they truly want to win.”
Lamb is in his seventh season, and Pickens is in his second with Dallas. Lamb said Thursday that a lot of people love to compete and compare, and he does not think that happens inside the Cowboys’ receiver room.
“So just believing in one another, I feel like having that type of mindset, you will be very successful,” Lamb said. “A lot of people love to compete and compare, and I don’t think we do that here. We don’t. We just want to win together. That’s essentially the end goal.”
Lamb and Pickens combined for 168 catches and 2,506 receiving yards last season, the second-most by a receiver duo in the NFL. Prescott has watched Lamb mature into a leader in the receiver room.
“What can’t he do?” Prescott explained. “Just ask that, and there’s nothing. You’ve seen it. Run the ball, catch it out of the backfield quick, or send them deep, jump balls, work across the middle. Not many receivers can line up inside, line up outside, and still just be as dominant. Beats double coverage, whatever it is you need from CeeDee, he’s going to do.”
“And just obviously just him growing up and just him maturing over the years and being a true leader, being a leader in that room, allowing those guys to follow him, to be able to answer those questions, and just doing the things the right way that makes his habits contagious,” Prescott added.
Lamb caught 75 passes for 1,077 yards and 3 touchdowns in 14 games last season and made his fifth straight Pro Bowl. He missed Weeks 4 through 6 with an ankle injury. Through six seasons, he has 571 catches for 7,416 yards and 41 touchdowns in 95 games, and he led the NFL with 135 catches in 2023, when he was a first-team All-Pro. He is in the second year of a four-year, $136 million extension. Dallas took him 17th overall out of Oklahoma in 2020.
Dak Prescott Sees A Different George Pickens In Year 2
Pickens caught 93 passes for 1,429 yards and 9 touchdowns in 2025, all career highs, and was a second-team All-Pro. He is playing this season on a one-year franchise tender worth $27.3 million fully guaranteed, which he signed the week after the draft. Dallas acquired him from Pittsburgh on May 7, 2025, for a 2026 third-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick, and it announced before this year’s draft that it would not negotiate a long-term deal with him this offseason. The Steelers took him 52nd overall out of Georgia in 2022. Pickens said Wednesday that he feels “super, super comfortable” after 17 or 18 games in the same scheme. Prescott said Pickens looks night and day different from last year, and he can feel it from his end.
“Absolutely,” Prescott said of Pickens’ practice habits. “You watch practice. I know you guys are just there in the beginning, but you just watch the team period, watch his finish. Not that’s something he doesn’t always do, but you can tell there’s a different little feel to him, to CeeDee and both, and just the way that they’ve been practicing. And just obviously in our communication, yeah, we’re all excited.”
“We understand it takes it one day at a time,” Prescott continued. “So me being a veteran guy is really just about [staying] in the moment, just trying to echo Schotty’s message of staying in the moment, be where our feet are. It’s a long process and we’ve got to win the process before we win the game.”
Adams said Pickens has grown in understanding how Dallas moves him around, and that the moves cannot be the same route every time. In Week 2 last season against New York, Pickens caught 5 passes for 68 yards and 1 touchdown, and Lamb had 9 catches for 112 yards in a 40-37 overtime win. The two became the first Dallas receivers to make the Pro Bowl in the same season.
