3 Cowboys players that need to take a seat and reset

The Dallas Cowboys are 3-6 after a proper butt-kicking at the hands of arguably their biggest rival, Philadelphia. The Eagles helped remind us of just how bad the Cowboys are in every facet of the game. After watching that demolition, it’s clear some starters need to take a seat to regroup and reset. Some may end up going away for good before too long.

Cooper Rush

Cooper Rush is back in a familiar spot, forced to hold things together while franchise quarterback Dak Prescott recovers from injury. However, if Sunday is any indication of what this run could look like, it’s going to be a rough go for the Cowboys with Rush heading down the stretch. The last time Rush started a handful of games for Dallas, he went 5-1 in 2022.

Sunday against Philadelphia it looked like Rush hadn’t sniffed a field of any sort since that last run a couple of years ago. He managed to pass for only 45 yards on 23 attempts before being replaced by Trey Lance. Falling three games under .500 it feels like the Cowboys season is over. Rush may have left his mojo back in 2022 because he couldn’t find it in Week 10.

“Just didn’t play well enough,” Rush said. “We ran it well in the first half. We just didn’t capitalize some times down in the red zone. A couple good, long drives, defense gets a turnover and we don’t capitalize. It can snowball fast when you don’t take care of the ball as well. We already spotted them one early in the first quarter and then (another one) going in the end zone. Turnovers will always kill you and we had a chance with the defense playing well to overcome those coming out of halftime. We just didn’t.”

Jalen Tolbert

Just when it seemed Jalen Tolbert had turned a corner and was becoming a real factor for this Cowboys offense, suddenly he’s begun to regress. Looking back at Week 5, Dallas' last win, which came over Pittsburgh, Tolbert absolutely showed out. He caught seven balls for 87 yards and a touchdown.

Since that game, the Cowboys have lost four in a row and Tolbert hasn’t had more than four catches and 44 yards in any of them. He’s got one TD during this four-game losing streak. Tolbert was supposed to be the de facto No. 2 option with Brandin Cooks recovering from injury. Overall, Tolbert has just two games this year where he’s caught more than four passes and only two games with more than 44 receiving yards.

Everything in this Cowboys offense is literally on the shoulders of CeeDee Lamb. If the ball isn’t going his way it seems nothing else is going to happen. Dallas ran the ball well for once in the first half against the Eagles but ultimately fell behind and had to abandon it. Tolbert needs a reset to get back on track because he’s barely been noticeable in the past few games.

Zack Martin

It seems we’ve finally reached that point in Zack Martin’s career where the writing is on the wall. We’ve seen it in recent years with Ezekiel Elliott (it’s happening again this season) and Tyron Smith. The decline is clear as day, especially for a player who’s been the best at their position on multiple occasions.

We throw the term “All-Pro” around but it feels like folks don’t fully grasp the gravity of what it means. To be first-team All-Pro in the NFL means you are the best player at your position in a given season. Martin has taken that honor home seven times in his career. In his 11th year as a pro, Martin has been an All-Pro for more than half his time in the NFL. That equates to an automatic Hall of Fame nod once he’s eligible upon retiring.

This also makes it much harder to watch Martin’s fall from grace. Martin just can’t do it consistently at the same level he had for so long. Teammate Micah Parsons even sees the end is near for Martin and mentioned it following their loss to the Eagles Sunday.

“Guys I kind of feel bad for are guys like Zack Martin,” Parsons explained. “And guys who might be on their last year or on their way out. Because that’s who I wanted to hold the trophy for. You want to win games and do great things with those type of legends who put in more time and work than Mike McCarthy ever did. Those are the kind of guys that I have so much sympathy and hurt for.”