Everything Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott said after losing to the Baltimore Ravens

After the Dallas Cowboys lost 28-25 to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, quarterback Dak Prescott met with the media. This is what he said about the loss, which dropped the Cowboys to 1-2. All quotes are courtesy of the Dallas Cowboys media relations staff:

On today’s slow start ...

Very frustrating, especially when you’re playing a quarterback that like on that side. An offense that powerful, you just can’t do it, honestly. Just holding some of the defensive guys, we have to look in the mirror. Us offense first, and we have to help them. I know they’re standing; they don’t allow 28 points against an MVP player and an offense like that. It’s a game that we have to score 30 and we know it. We didn’t so it and started late. That’s the biggest part of it. The penalties and some errors. I guess you can say whether it be alignment, whether it be assignment, we’ve got to be cleaner. We’ve got to lock in and be more focused on our job, take accountability in every position and grow.

On being more in sync when he’s tuned in

I don’t know. Maybe it’s plays that we’ve ran from the first install. That’s what you say two minutes install, one play. Plays that you’ve had from the first day all the way to the last. You’ve had the most reps at them, that could be potentially it. Maybe we need to lessen the volume, who knows. But us as players, we’ve got to be more professional and understand our jobs. Understand where we’re supposed to be and do that time and time again and keep our focus.

On his definition of being more professional...

By knowing where you’re supposed to be, knowing your reads, knowing where you’re supposed to line up, knowing your routes, and knowing your route adjustments versus certain coverages. Every part of what being a professional is. It’s a job and being prepared for every part of the job, however it may come. Time away from the building to being in the building, just being a pro and understanding that you can get so many practice reps. But, you can watch the film, you can do all these other things that’ll help make up for it. We just have to be more focused. That’s what to me on offense where we haven’t been as focused as we should. Had a few mental errors that were crucial, I guess you could say, timing wise. To me, it just goes into being a professional and understanding what you have to do.

On managing CeeDee Lamb’s body language during games...

Reading body language, I’m not really into it. I’m just into making sure that he doesn’t get down on himself. The body language, whether it’s good or it’s bad, it’s irrelevant, it’s where his mind is. And so, he’s going to be disappointed when you’re passionate and when you expect a lot from yourself. You’re going to be that way. So for me, it’s about just letting him know, “Hey, next play, wipe it clean.” Who cares what happens when you have an opportunity to fix it this next play or make a better play. If you’re sitting in that, dwelling on that, your mind’s not in the right place to move forward. It’s about always talking, not only him, but the other guys of don’t dwell. You don’t have time to dwell. You look at the way that game ended, I feel like we don’t dwell in different places on offense, it’s a different game. And who knows, one two-point conversion away from a tied game and a red zone trip away from a different ending to that game. That’s my point, you can’t dwell. Things happen fast in this league, and you always have an opportunity. You always have a chance as long as there is time and as long as you have the ball.

On if it’s a benefit that the next game is on a short week...

Yeah, just the way that we finished on offense is vital for us to be able to build on. I mean, honestly, talking to the guys on, I don’t know if it was the drive we scored on or the fourth down before that, and I said, hey we’ve got to get something going momentum. I don’t care how this game ends, it’s about getting something going, it’s a long ass season. So we’ve got to make sure that we’re controlling what we can control. And right now we’ve got an opportunity to go do that. And we started it going. We got going, got hot, prompted up and it’s important to continue to roll that over into this short week. As far as getting the taste out of your mouth, it’s always better on a short week, win or lose. Just being able to get right back to it, not being able to celebrate a win or dwell on a loss. Understanding that next game is just as important. And I told the guys, some of the guys in the locker room. Enjoy your Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, tonight. Tomorrow you wake up and it’s Thursday, so let’s get to it.

On why they have had trouble getting into a rhythm the first two weeks ...

Gotta look at the film. I’m not really sure. If I had an answer, we would be in a rhythm.

On the running game struggling a little bit ...

Gotta look at film. I’m sorry, you are asking questions that you know I’ve gotta go back and I’ve gotta look. You know me by now. I’m not going to give you some rational answer.

On from the naked eye and from the numbers, neither is operating in the way you want it to ...

It’s a process. We have to continue to grow. It’s game three. It’s game three, and we have an opportunity here in a couple days to build off of the way we just finished that game and that’s what’s important. Whether it’s the run game, or the connection with CeeDee, obviously its when you miss some time, you are going to have that. You wish you didn’t, but you are. As I said earlier about me making sure he’s in the right mindset moving forward, who cares. Incomplete pass, yeah, I could have thrown it better. Maybe he could have brought it in. It doesn’t matter. We have an opportunity the next play. We have an opportunity tomorrow to grow and build.

On how he encourages people who need to improve and how to inspire or encourage them ...

Just communication. It’s as simple as that. Watching the film. Calling out whether its me or its them. Whether we all can be better. I mentioned in the huddle, just being accountable. Looking in the mirror. Even if you are professional, doing all the things right, work on doing it better, and maybe its bringing somebody along. That’s the beauty in this game. It’s the ultimate team game. And that’s why I love it, and that’s why I am excited to wake up and get back at it.

On whether he and Coach McCarthy talk about the two-point conversions and whether to go for it and why were they not able to convert either of them today ...

The first one, great coverage. Maybe I can change the play. The guy made a good play; i think he already had the leverage on CeeDee. In the second one, they were in a good defense for the look, and I almost converted it, honestly. I bring the ball down a little bit, regardless of what I had to do in the pocket. As a quarterback, you have the ball in your hands, I’ve got an opportunity to make a play, the play was there, and I missed it. So, as far as the conversations on whether to go for two, I trust what the playcaller is doing, the position he is putting us in. End of the day, if we score, you are not asking me this question, so I’m not going to ever doubt his decision to put the ball in my hands and our offense’s hands of getting points.

On having a lot of young guys on offense and whether they get it and understand what he is talking about ...

Yeah, they do. And that’s my point about trusting the process and continuing to build. Being a pro is not going up and down, you know what I mean? Playing the highs and lows and riding those. It’s about being consistent to your process, trusting the work that you put in, your teammates put in, trusting the man next to you, and just trying to accomplish your job and fighting at the end of the day. Coach McCarthy said it best. The fight that this group showed, you can’t scheme that. You can’t prepare for that. So we have the right type of guys and its about us just starting faster. We start faster, we help our defense out, its a different type of game.

On how focused he is on making sure the frustration doesn’t snowball, and how he does that ...

Great question. As I’ve just kind of alluded to a couple times, making sure guys don’t dwell. They can feel bad tonight, but come the morning, it’s over with. It’s over with. And if you’re dwelling on that, you are not going to prepare the right way. You are still going to be looking back on things that you could have done, should have done. I can tell you a handful of plays right now that I could have made or shouldn’t have put the ball in there that was close to an interception or this or that, but you have to have a short term in this game. And that is my point being three games in and a lot of season left. Trust your process, trust the men next to you, trust what we are building, and continue to go. Continue to try to get better and put your best version out there, your unit’s best version and ultimately the best team that we can, each and every Sunday. And you won’t have any regrets. No matter what happens, you won’t have any regrets if you are doing what you are supposed to be doing, and being accountable.

On if he feels like he needs to do more as a leader...

Yeah. If guys are dwelling and guys are sitting on a loss or back-to-back losses, I’ve got to obviously speak up and let them know that it’s over with. We’ve got an opportunity next week to go here Thursday, four days from now and go 2-2. And when we get that win, you’re going to feel a little bit better and once again I need to remind them that that doesn’t matter. It’s about what we can do in seven days or what we can do tomorrow to build to that next game. We just have to understand the process, trust the process and be accountable. Every single one of us, including myself, and move on.

On Dak’s process up until Thursday...

Excited to go hang with mama and MJ back there tonight. Wash this game down. Early tomorrow, turn the film on on the New York Giants. And a lot of film between now and Thursday. Understanding that the practice reps will be minimal. It will be more walkthrough type speed. And obviously just leading the guys. Making sure that we’re not dwelling on what’s happened. That we’re excited about the opportunity that we have to move forward, to put a better taste in our mouth, to go and get a win. Preparing as a pro and making sure these other guys understand how crucial it is each day, each hour that we have when the week is shortened.

On what he feels he needs for the offense to be more productive...

To play my absolute best. Period. That’s the expectations of myself. It’s the standard I hold. I’m a look in the mirror type guy. I’m going back and watching the film with where could I have done better, where could I have helped? Could I have moved in the pocket this way, that way? Not over-analyzing I can say but understanding what I can control. Taking accountability and communicating that with the other guys and making sure that they’re not taking too much and over-analyzing themselves. And throwing and completing the ball. As simple as that.

On playing like they practiced ...

I’ll start with myself. I didn’t have a great practice, I believe it was Thursday. I even told coach that I feel better when it’s me. I can control it. I can get over it. I’ll make that change and that difference. It’s also a sense of gotta make sure other people are doing what they should be doing. Make sure other people aren’t dwelling on a bad practice rep, myself included. Understanding that just because we got this look, it may not be the look we get in the game, these are the other variables and this is the other place that the ball should go. We need to be ready. Just being a leader that steps up, I guess on either side of the ball...just doing what I can to make sure guys are positive and upbeat and optimistic about their opportunity that we have every time we get on this field.

On if their big finish gives them false hope that their slow start issues are fixed, and how to guard against that ...

I mean, that team was still playing hard there at the end. I get what you’re saying. At times, people call it trash time. But they were bringing cover zero for a reason, trying to stop us, trying to end the game. We weren’t allowing that to happen. For me, it’s about starting fast. Yeah, we got a lot of momentum going but that was doing the things we do at a high level – not making mistakes, lining up in the right place, not jumping offsides, being disciplined in our technique – that’s what led to those drives one after another. It’s about doing that earlier and putting pressure on the defense. When we can do that, we can run, we play action, we can do whatever we have to do. Yeah, the pass game got going. Two minute was great. But we’ve got to figure out a way to be better early in the game and start the game better. That’s what I’m looking forward to do is leading the guys into doing it. “