FRISCO, Texas — Dak Prescott said Thursday that tight end Jake Ferguson has gotten as good or better this year than in all of his previous seasons combined, 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. With receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens drawing attention, Ferguson gets one-on-one matchups in the middle, Prescott said.
“Jake’s a hell of a player,” Prescott said. “Obviously a player that has just continued to get better each and every year. And I think this year alone, he’s probably gotten as good or better than he has all those three years or whatever it was combined. And just with his intentionality and his detail to his training, you just said it, those other guys galvanize a lot of attention and it leaves Jake one-on-one and it leaves him in the middle.”
“And so for me and him, it’s about being on the same page,” Prescott continued. “So we over-communicate. He’s done a hell of a job. I’m excited. I think he’s going to have a hell of a year, and I know he’s ready for it.”
Jake Ferguson’s Numbers Entering His Fifth Season
In 2025, Ferguson caught 82 passes for 600 yards and 8 touchdowns in 17 games. The catches and touchdowns were career highs, and he made his second Pro Bowl.
A year earlier, he had 59 catches for 494 yards and no touchdowns in 14 games. In 2023, he caught 71 passes for 761 yards and 5 touchdowns and made his first Pro Bowl. In the wild-card loss to Green Bay after that season, he caught 10 passes for 93 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Dallas drafted Ferguson in the fourth round out of Wisconsin in 2022, 129th overall, and he signed a four-year extension before the 2025 season. This month, the Cowboys restructured his contract as one of three restructures that created more than $19 million in cap space. He did not play in any of Dallas’ three preseason games. His 7.3 yards per catch last season reflected how often Dallas used him underneath.
Lamb and Pickens combined for 2,506 receiving yards last season, the second-most by a receiver duo in the NFL. Giants defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson said Thursday that Dallas’ tight ends are good.
“They have elite receivers in CeeDee and Pickens, and their tight ends are good,” Wilson said. “So, they have weapons, both on the outside and inside.”
Jake Ferguson And Dallas Cowboys Ball Security
Offensive coordinator Klayton Adams said Thursday that the staff talked with Ferguson this offseason about knowing when to go down rather than risk the football. All seven of Ferguson’s career fumbles have come in the last two seasons, four in 2024 and three in 2025. The conversation started last season, when some of those fumbles were happening, Adams said.
“I think one of the things that we talked about in the offseason with it, and even last year when some of those things were happening, is just knowing the situation,” Adams said. “If it’s third-and-18 and you catch the ball for a plus-2 gain, at some point you’re going to probably want to get down rather than risk the football.”
All of the Cowboys’ tight ends chip for the tackles in pass protection, Adams said. Behind Ferguson, Brevyn Spann-Ford agreed Thursday to a three-year, $18 million extension. Spann-Ford played all 17 games last season, caught 9 passes for 90 yards, and made 20 special teams tackles, mostly on kickoff coverage. He is 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds and signed with Dallas as an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota in April 2024.
