Fresh off missing just about all of Cowboys training camp as he held out for a new contract, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb has looked like a guy who is not on the same page with his quarterback, Dak Prescott. And in Sunday’s 28-25 loss to the Ravens, which dropped the Cowboys to 1-2, that disconnect got the better of Lamb, as he was caught on camera chirping at Prescott and acting out his frustrations before he was finally benched during the Cowboys’ late rally.
Lamb had four catches in Sunday, for just 67 yards. He is averaging just 72.7 yards per game this year.
But it was Lamb’s behavior around the field, rather than failures on it, that counted as the bigger issue. With his new contract comes more responsibility as team leader, and Lamb was not acting in a manner befitting a team leader on Sunday.
Former Cowboys receiver Isaiah Stanback, speaking on the team’s postgame show, “The First Word,” did not hold back on Lamb.
“I am calling it like we see it,” Stanback said. “That’s why we’re former players up here. We do understand that and we’re trying to help y’all understand that. You cannot, regardless of the situation, regardless of the frustration that you’re experiencing, you can never exude that kind of frustration on the sideline that can be so divisive for a team that’s trying to find a way to gain some momentum.”
Cowboys Stars Not Connecting in Passing Game
There’s no doubt as to why Lamb was frustrated. He was targeted seven times, running his season stats to 13 catches on 24 targets, or a success rate of 54.2%. Compare that to the star season Lamb had last year—he caught 74.6% of the balls Prescott threw his way—and it’s clear that there are issues between Lamb and Prescott.
This comes after Lamb was given a four-year, $136 million deal last month, making him the second highest-paid WR in the NFL. That only makes his actions more unacceptable, especially as the Cowboys were attempting to rally from a 28-6 deficit entering the fourth quarter.
Lamb had no catches in the fourth quarter, when Dallas scored 19 straight points.
“You’re facing going 1-2, the last thing you need to be doing is having some explicative going on the sideline against your QB1,” Stanback said, “having terrible body language when everybody else is in the game fighting for yard after yard, when you’re on the sideline, taking a knee, having bad facial expressions, and your No. 2, 3 and 4 receivers are out there getting first downs … you can’t do that.
“You just got the bag. More is being asked of you. Step up to the task.”
CeeDee Lamb ‘Chirping at Dak (Prescott) on the Sideline’
Lamb certainly was the story on Twitter/X, where video of his many complaints made the rounds. The complaints, it was noted, were packed with irony, given that the Cowboys’ first trip into the red zone early in the game was torpedoed by a Lamb fumble.
From Bleacher Report, still photos showed, “Ceedee chirping at Dak on the sideline.”
From NFL draft analyst Connor Livesay: “Ceedee Lamb freaking out on everyone after fumbling the Cowboys only red zone drive is certainly a choice.”
Cowboys reporter Brittany Bowen did some lip-reading and had Lamb saying, “I’m not going no where ima be here all day.”
Indeed, it was a long day for Lamb. The trick now is for the Cowboys to ensure it does not turn into a long season.
