FRISCO — Much of the credit during the Cowboys’ three-game win streak is attributed to the defensive front, specifically defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, who was acquired in a trade with the New York Jets.
He’s just part of it.
Other returns, for the last three games from injuries, are from safeties Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker. The pair has improved the communication on the back end and provided the Cowboys with some consistent personnel there.
“The guys making a lot of the adjustments are the safeties and sharing that information,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said before Tuesday’s practice.
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“If you hear those guys both talk, man they are loud and they’re confident. They’re not saying, ‘Hey I kind of wanna do this.’ They are making the calls and putting everybody in the right spot. Without that, as much motion as we see, you get lost. Those two guys get a ton of credit.”
Wilson missed two games with elbow and shoulder problems. In his three games back, he’s got a pass breakup and a forced fumble.
Hooker missed five games with a toe injury and was placed on injured reserve. He’s got a tackle for loss and a pass breakup in the last three games. He did leave the Thanksgiving Day game against the Chiefs with back spasms.
At the start of the season, with both players on the field, communication was a major issue. Whether it was the type of defensive call being made or the proper execution, the Cowboys encountered problems.
Having a stronger pass rush has also taken some pressure off the secondary. Pressure up the middle and off the edge forces quarterbacks to hurry throws or have them scrambling in the pocket.
“I’d say just discipline,” Hooker said of what the problems were with the defense early in the season. “We weren’t disciplined enough to be the team that we wanted to be going into this part of the season. We kind of dug ourselves in a hole but we also knew we had a team that was able to dig ourselves out of a hole, as we’ve see the last couple of weeks. Obviously, everybody else (other teams) helped us out. We just kept coming in, putting our head down and sticking with each other.”
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