‘Love The Plan’: Kenny Clark Backs Christian Parker As Brian Schottenheimer Details Dallas Cowboys’ Defensive Transformation

FRISCO, Texas — Defensive tackle Kenny Clark said Wednesday that first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker has been the same person every week of a difficult first half, and that he likes what Parker has added in practice this week.

The Dallas Cowboys have allowed 3,083 yards and 1,222 rushing yards through eight games, both the most in the NFL. Dallas is 3-5 after a 33-30 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

Parker keeps learning and finding things the defense can do better, in Clark’s telling.

“Good. He’s been the same guy each and every week and still learning and finding things out that we can do better and just trying to build off of those things,” Clark said. “So love the plan, love everything that we’ve been doing, love how practice has been going and the stuff that he’s adding in practice. So it’s been good.”

Clark joined Dallas from the Green Bay Packers in August 2025 in the trade that sent Micah Parsons to Green Bay. He is a three-time Pro Bowl selection.

Brian Schottenheimer Cites Transformation And Injuries

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer described a defense that turned over its coaches, scheme, and personnel in one offseason. The way the group works, and three quarters against Arizona, are what give him hope.

“Well, I think when you look at it, there’s a big transformation that happened in the defense. You talk about a lot of different faces, a lot of different names, rookies drafted, free agents that came in. We’re certainly not playing to the standard,” Schottenheimer said. “What does give us hope is the type of young men that are in that room, the way they work, the way we really played for three quarters against Arizona was positive.”

“I think when you add to the transformation of the scheme and the people and the personnel and all that, then you throw into it injuries. I do think that that had something to do with some of the stuff, but make no mistakes about it,” Schottenheimer continued. “We are not performing well enough as a football team and not just defensively.”

First-round picks Caleb Downs and Malachi Lawrence are both injured. Downs is in the concussion protocol, along with safety P.J. Locke, and Lawrence is expected to miss a few weeks with an ankle injury. Safety Jalen Thompson remains out, and linebacker Dee Winters was limited Wednesday with a calf injury.

Dallas held Arizona to 3 first-half points Sunday, then allowed 30 after halftime.

Kenny Clark Says Trust Is The Next Step

Consistency, for Clark, comes down to doing your job and trusting the player next to you to do his.

“It all comes down to just doing your job, being where you’re supposed to be. And if you’re not being violent and playing through it, playing hard, all the things that we talk about on defense, running to the ball, running and hitting, we gotta do all those things,” Clark explained. “And then go down and play like we did against Arizona, we just gotta find how to play consistent and ultimately it comes down to execution.”

“It doesn’t matter what’s called. We’ve got to go out there, the players on this team, we’ve got to execute,” Clark added. “I think that’s where we’ve struggled. Some games we’re executing really well. In this game we did, so we’ve just got to find that consistency.”

Playing free is the other piece of it.

“I think the biggest thing is we just got to go play free and trust each other. I think that’s the biggest thing,” Clark said. “You got to trust the dude next to you, whatever position it is, that he’s going to get his job done and just focus on you. Do your job, do your one-eleventh, and just trust the dude next to you is going to do his.”

Dallas visits the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Kickoff at Lucas Oil Stadium is set for noon CT on FOX.