Cowboys Veterans Explain What Makes Jaishawn Barham Different

ARLINGTON, Texas — Jaishawn Barham punched the ball away from Dyami Brown on Washington’s first snap after a Dallas field goal in the third quarter Sunday, and Dee Winters fell on it at the Washington 18. Two plays later, Dak Prescott threw a 12-yard touchdown to Jake Ferguson that tied Tony Romo’s franchise record and put the Dallas Cowboys ahead 27-13 in a 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium.

It was Barham’s second NFL game and his first start. The rookie from Michigan played middle linebacker with DeMarvion Overshown inactive and wore the green dot, relaying the calls from defensive coordinator Christian Parker to the rest of the defense. He finished with 7 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and the forced fumble.

A video of a heated sideline exchange between Barham and Parker circulated in the days before the game. Prescott had not seen it when a reporter raised it with him Thursday at The Star, and by Sunday night he had watched it and talked to Barham himself.

“I wasn’t surprised. He’s a guy [who], when I had a conversation when he first came in or when he first got to training camp, and it was a short conversation, but when I walked off, I’m like, ‘Oh, he’s wired the right way for defense.’ I like that,” Prescott said. “And as you know, during our interview, I was kind of lost, and then after that I went and watched the video, and I think it was the next day or maybe even two days after that, I actually caught up with him in the cold tank, and I asked him, like, ‘The media asked me, I finally saw the video.’”

“And it was just out of context, to be honest with you. He was passionate. It wasn’t an argument between him and CP by any means. And so it was the epitome of who he is,” Prescott continued. “He wasn’t happy with what they were doing [or] his performance, and he was expressing that, and CP was just saying, ‘We’re going to be okay.’ And so not surprised at all that he went out there and played this kind of game.”

“I mean, just even how he answered that question to me, and it’s like, ‘Yeah, no big deal. I just didn’t like, I thought we were playing soft or whatever, and I was pissed off about it.’ That, yeah, I mean, he’s going to be a great ball player for us, great ball player in this league,” Prescott continued. “And, yeah, he’s just, every opportunity he gets, the way that he’s wired and what this game means to him, he’s going to show. And I think tonight was just his second opportunity in doing so.”

Jaishawn Barham Plays Through Stingers With The Green Dot

Mariota’s screen to Brown had already lost 6 yards when Barham knocked the ball loose, and Winters returned the recovery 5 yards to the Washington 13. The strip was the only takeaway of the game, and Dallas scored two plays later. It came in Barham’s first game wearing the green dot for Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer’s defense.

“I think he did a really tremendous job. We had to rotate green dot some when Shemar would come in certain packages. I thought overall we handled that really well,” Schottenheimer said. “And then Jaishawn had a couple stingers. And he’s tough, man. And I think you love that about him. We knew that’s what we were getting when we drafted him, and he showed that tonight.”

Shemar James finished with 3 tackles. Washington gained 389 yards and ran for 182, but Dallas held it to 1 touchdown in 3 trips inside the 20 and finished plus-1 in turnovers.

Dallas Cowboys Veterans Vouch For Jaishawn Barham

CeeDee Lamb is in his seventh season with Dallas, and the touchdown Barham’s fumble set up tied the record Lamb helped break a quarter later. Lamb had been in the building with Barham since spring workouts.

“I just know a dog when I see one, and I know my teammates,” Lamb said. “I’m with these guys every single day. Been with them since the spring. You get a good feel of a guy and how passionate he is about it and how much love he has for this game. Just every day on how he prepares, how he approaches the game. I know Jaishawn. He’s a dog, man. He don’t mean no harm. He just wants to go play ball and exceed.”

Kenny Clark lines up in front of Barham on the defensive line and is in his 11th NFL season. He finished with 3 tackles and 1 quarterback hit.

“Yeah, just, man, just commanding the huddle. Doing everything that he [was] coached to do, and coming out there being physical at the point of attack, getting guys lined up in the right spot, communicating all day,” Clark said. “He did a great job today.”

Quinnen Williams had 4 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 quarterback hit in his eighth NFL season. He has seen Barham make the same plays in practice for weeks.

“The plays he’s making, man, is super dope. I see him make it in practice, super confident in him. And like I said, just keep building on the things he do well,” Williams said. “And just like all of us, got to build on the things we got to correct and just keep going, man. He played a great game. He played phenomenal when it came down to wearing the green dot as a rookie, second game of the year, getting everybody in order, especially up front, and different things like that. Just continue to build on it. We all got huge trust in him.”

Von Miller was drafted second overall by Denver in 2011 and is in his 16th season. Barham’s play was the second turning point of the game, after Jayden Daniels’ injury at the end of the first half.

“I think it’s great just to show them, like, it’s just football at the end of the day. Like, this is what you’ve been doing your whole entire life. Don’t make it bigger than what it is. Don’t make it smaller than what it is. Enjoy the moment. And, like, it’s dope,” Miller said. “This is my 16th year in the NFL. This is the first year in the NFL to see guys really, like, get going. Like, this is what I do it for. So it’s amazing to see him get started. And there’s going to be more plays to come, big plays to come.”

Shavon Revel Jr. had 3 tackles and a pass breakup. The Cowboys lost the opener 28-20 to the Giants, and Revel pointed to the plays that went the other way this time.

“Oh, yeah, definitely. This is a big win, especially because it’s a division game. And we start off the week 0-0. I mean, that’s just how we look at it. We approach each day with the intention to get better and better each day. And this day didn’t make any difference. We came out there to be violent, be physical, give the ball to Dak as much as possible,” Revel said. “Honestly, it was the same. It had the same feel. It had the same vibe. Just the ball bounced our way a little bit. Jaishawn was able to get a forced fumble. [Dee Winters] was able to recover it. Just little plays like that bounced our way that didn’t bounce our way last week. Yeah, it was a great team win.”

Dallas faces the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 27 at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Kickoff is set for 3:25 p.m. CT on CBS.