‘Not A Reflection’: Von Miller, Kenny Clark Defend Dallas Cowboys Coaching Staff After Overtime Loss To Arizona Cardinals

ARLINGTON, Texas — Von Miller said Sunday that the Dallas Cowboys’ play in a 33-30 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals was not a reflection of their coaching staff. Kenny Clark said in the locker room at AT&T Stadium that he has full confidence in all of the Cowboys’ coaches.

Dallas led 24-10 with 14:20 left in regulation and 30-24 with 1:09 to play before falling to 3-5. Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones called the loss an indictment of the whole show and said he was not pointing at Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer.

Miller, a two-time Super Bowl champion, said he has three kids. He used raising them to describe how he sees the coaching staff.

“Sometimes, I’m a parent. I got three kids, right? Sometimes you raise your kids a certain way and you teach them lessons. You expect them to act a certain way when they go out,” Miller said. “Sometimes the kids just go out there and do things that are not a reflection of who you are as a parent. And I use that reference for our coaching staff. We have amazing coaches that keep us prepared, ready to go mentally, physically, emotionally. They breathe life into us, and just for whatever reason, that’s the product.”

“The product that went out there is not a reflection of our coaching staff,” Miller continued. “This is pro sports. This is not parenting. So at the end of the day, the buck has to stop somewhere. Somebody’s going to get the blame. But my opinion, this is just me, I don’t know nothing about football. I only played 16 years. We’ve got great coaches. We’ve got a great coaching staff. And that’s not a reflection of how they coach us and get us ready every week.”

Miller sacked Jacoby Brissett for a 16-yard loss in the third quarter, one of five Dallas sacks. Gardner Minshew II replaced Brissett with 1:35 left in the quarter, and Arizona scored touchdowns on its next four possessions.

Kenny Clark Says Cowboys Coaches Put Together A Great Plan

Clark had 3 tackles and helped stop a fourth-and-1 run at the Dallas 1 in the first quarter. Dallas held Arizona to 42 rushing yards before halftime.

“I got full confidence in all my coaches,” Clark said. “I think they do a good job of putting a great plan together. There’s some players out there to execute. So that’s all I got to say about that.”

Arizona ran for 160 yards after halftime, overtime included.

“We’ve got to lean on our work. There’s a lot of season left. Just lean on our work, man,” Clark explained. “We’ve been putting in a lot of work since the offseason. Stay together.”

Von Miller, Tyler Smith Put The Collapse On The Players

Miller called himself one of the most optimistic teammates a team could have.

“Unfortunately, I’ve been here before and been able to get out of it,” Miller explained. “My job is to make sure our spirit and our camaraderie doesn’t fade. We did some good things today, not enough good things. We’ve got some great coaches, great players. We’ve just got to find the combination and the rhythm of the things that we do during the week to make sure we can finish our games and play well on Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays.”

Tyler Smith said there were blocks he did not do well enough on down the stretch.

“My teammates trust me. My teammates depend on me. So I feel like I have to own my 1/11th to the maximum,” Smith said. “We played good. We had a 6-point lead going into one minute left in the game, whatever. But we had a chance to put the game away. I didn’t play well enough down the stretch.”

Dak Prescott also defended Schottenheimer afterward, calling it weak and cowardly to put the blame on one person.

Dallas visits the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 8 at Lucas Oil Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon CT on FOX.