FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Klayton Adams said Thursday that the rebuilt Cowboys defense has been like “a great training partner” for his offense, three days before Dallas opens the season against the New York Giants.
Kickoff at MetLife Stadium is Sunday at 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC. Dallas allowed 511 points in 2025, the most in the NFL, and fired defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus after one season. Christian Parker, hired Jan. 22 after two seasons as the Philadelphia Eagles’ passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach, calls his first regular-season game Sunday.
Some days in training camp, Adams’ offense walked off the field knowing it had not been very good, he said.
“I’m very invested in their success, obviously,” Adams said. “And it’s been great. I always think that to be great, it’s a little bit like having a great training partner, somebody that can hit the ball back across the net at you. And it’s been really good for us in training camp to be challenged by them and to have some days where we’re walking back in going, man, that wasn’t very good. And then also, you have enough respect for those guys that when you do have a good day, you feel a little bit better about it.”
At this point last season, Adams was in his first year as offensive coordinator, after Brian Schottenheimer was promoted to head coach. Some of the defensive players have asked Adams whether this year feels better than last year, he said.
“The only thing that I remember about last year was at this point,” Adams explained. “Like, I was trying so hard to figure out what I was doing that I just wasn’t really paying attention to the defense.”
How The Dallas Cowboys Rebuilt Their Defense
Two of the Cowboys’ four captains for 2026 are defensive tackles acquired in trades. Dallas got Kenny Clark from the Green Bay Packers in the August 2025 trade that sent Micah Parsons to Green Bay, and it used one of the two first-round picks from that deal to acquire Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets, ProFootballTalk reported.
This offseason, Dallas traded for edge rusher Rashan Gary from Green Bay, signed two veteran safeties, and signed cornerback Cobie Durant to a one-year deal, The Associated Press reported. The Cowboys also signed Von Miller, who has 138.5 career sacks.
In the draft, Dallas took safety Caleb Downs 11th overall and edge rusher Malachi Lawrence 23rd. On the second night, it traded a fifth-round pick to the San Francisco 49ers for linebacker Dee Winters, a TCU product who started all 17 games for San Francisco last season and made 101 tackles. With the 92nd pick that night, Dallas took Michigan linebacker Jaishawn Barham.
Klayton Adams On Finding Out What the Cowboys’ Offense Is
Every team goes into Week 1 thinking it is one thing and often learns by Week 4 or 5 that it is something else, Adams said.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait until Sunday night to see what that looks like,” Adams said. “You see what’s happening around the league, and then you look at yourself in the offseason, you see what did we do well, how do we build off of that, what did we struggle with, where do we need to pivot, and so those are the thought processes that go into it.
“And then, I always say this, but you go into Week 1 thinking that you’re one thing, and usually by Week 4 or 5, you figure out the things that you’re good at, and maybe you’re something else,” Adams added.
Dallas scored 471 points in 2025. Receiver George Pickens had 1,429 receiving yards, and running back Javonte Williams ran for 1,201. Dak Prescott is in his 11th season as the starting quarterback.
The Cowboys finished 7-9-1 last season. They split with the Giants, winning 40-37 at AT&T Stadium in Week 2 and losing 34-17 at MetLife in the Jan. 4 finale.
