FRISCO, Texas — Von Miller will play more than he did in the Dallas Cowboys’ season opener, owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Tuesday.
Miller played 11 defensive snaps in Sunday’s 28-20 loss to the New York Giants, his first game with Dallas. Jones made his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan two days later.
The Cowboys would ideally like to have Miller out there more, Jones said, and the rest of the front is part of that plan.
“I look for him, and we look at him as though he will have more snaps than that,” Jones said. “But we look at our entire defensive front as one that will benefit from rotation. And we’ve got some depth there. We had some guys play pretty good out there the other night.”
Miller, a DeSoto native, is in his 16th NFL season and first with Dallas. He had 9 sacks for Washington in 2025. His 138.5 sacks since 2011 are the most in the league over that span, according to the Giants’ game notes.
New York ran 37 times for 165 yards and threw 29 passes. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said after the game that Dallas never forced the Giants into obvious passing situations where the rush could hunt.
Jerry Jones On Pressure After The Micah Parsons Trade
Dallas traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers on Aug. 28, 2025, for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and first-round picks in 2026 and 2027. 105.3 The Fan’s hosts noted that Jones said after the trade that pass rush could be schemed.
Nothing since has changed his mind about the value of pressure, Jones said Tuesday. The cost of getting it is the part that shaped the Cowboys’ decisions.
“Everybody wants as much pressure on the quarterback as you can get. And so there’s nothing that has changed my mind on having pressure on the quarterback,” Jones explained. “In the particular case, what you’ve got to look at is, if you can get it, what you give up to get it. And so that’s shaped, if you will, our decisions regarding what we’re trying to do to stop the run.”
Dallas allowed 511 points last season, the most in the NFL.
The Cowboys’ Front Against Jaxson Dart
The Cowboys sacked Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart twice and hit him 6 times. Dart completed 23-of-29 passes for 230 yards, 3 touchdowns, and no interceptions, and he ran 11 times for 54 yards.
Outside linebacker Donovan Ezeiruaku had 10 combined tackles, a half-sack, 2 passes defensed, and a forced fumble. Rookie safety Caleb Downs, the 11th overall pick, had 7 combined tackles and a sack.
Schottenheimer said Sunday night that the pass rush has to be better.
Jones said Tuesday that the biggest problem on defense was communication, and that he was surprised and dismayed Dallas could not stop New York’s outside runs.
Dallas hosts the Washington Commanders, Miller’s team last season, on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.
