NFL executive sounds alarms about Cowboys defense

Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones made multiple moves to bolster a defense that often betrayed the club's offense during the 2025 season. One of Jones' changes involved hiring former Philadelphia Eagles defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Christian Parker as Dallas' new defensive coordinator.

Jones' defense then had a rough outing in Dallas' 28-20 Week 1 loss at the rival New York Giants this past Sunday night. For a Casino.org piece published on Tuesday, NFL insider Jason La Canfora spoke with one unnamed personnel executive who was clearly unimpressed with Parker's performance in his official Cowboys debut. 

Cowboys looked like "they had an intern calling plays on defense" in loss to Giants

"We were bullish on the Cowboys being better, and it’s only one game, but not adjusting to the designed runs from [Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart] had execs shaking their heads," La Canfora wrote. "'(It) looked like they had an intern calling plays on defense,' one personnel exec told me."

Specifically, Dart rushed for 54 yards on 11 carries at MetLife Stadium. He also went 23-of-29 passing for 230 yards and three touchdowns. 

Stephen Jones addresses "unrealistic expectations" for Cowboys

Meanwhile, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones spoke about the team's Week 1 loss during a Monday appearance on local sports radio station 105.3 The Fan.

"That was a tough pill to swallow [Sunday] night," Stephen Jones said, per Mike Moraitis of Sports Illustrated. "Not gonna kid anybody. Felt really good and still do about our football team. We just probably had a little unrealistic expectations in terms of what we could do, especially on the defensive side of the ball with all the new faces and a brand new coordinator."

In fairness to Parker, the score of Sunday's game was tied 7-7 in the final minute of the first half before Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott threw a brutal interception. From there, the Giants produced back-to-back scoring drives to grab a 21-7 lead. 

"It’s not like (the Giants) were popping explosives. They were grinding it out," Stephen Jones added on Monday. "We didn’t make the plays to get them off the field." 

Parker's defense will now look to make corrections ahead of Dallas' Week 2 home game versus the 0-1 Washington Commanders this coming Sunday afternoon. As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Cowboys as 3.5-point home favorites against the Commanders.