Jourdan Lewis discusses 'tough conversations' Cowboys had before win over Commanders

Star Dallas Cowboys pass-rusher Micah Parsons and cornerback Trevon Diggs received some criticism last week when they insisted Dallas was "a really good football team" even though the club had suffered five straight losses to fall to 3-7 on the season. 

Following the Cowboys' thrilling 34-26 win at the rival Washington Commanders (7-5) on Sunday afternoon, Dallas cornerback Jourdan Lewis spoke with Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated about "tough conversations" that were had "between coaches and players in the short week" after the team's brutal 34-10 loss to the Houston Texans last Monday night. 

"What we talk about -- what type of man do we want to be individually? At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about," Lewis said. "Football is a recreation of true life. We understand that we want to be amazing men. In order to do that, we gotta go out there and fight no matter the circumstances. I feel like we’ve been doing that these last few weeks."

Some outsiders wondered as recently as Sunday morning if players such as Lewis would essentially phone in the rest of the season. Starting quarterback Dak Prescott is sidelined with a campaign-ending hamstring injury, and it seems likely that Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones will move on from head coach Mike McCarthy in January unless Dallas goes on an incredible run en route to earning a playoff berth. 

Don't look now, but the Cowboys have a great chance to get to 5-7 on the season when they host the lowly New York Giants (2-9) on Thanksgiving. As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Dallas as a four-point favorite over Big Blue. 

"Coach McCarthy just said, 'Keep chipping away. We’re doing some good things,'" Lewis added about the messages delivered by the Dallas coaching staff after the Houston debacle. "[Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer] came into the defensive meetings and showed us some good things we were doing, he just told us, keep chipping away, that the ball is going to roll our way." 

On Monday, the NFL website gave the Cowboys just a 5 percent chance to make the playoffs. With a win at AT&T Stadium on Thursday, Dallas could build some momentum heading into what could become much more of an interesting December for the franchise than some thought ahead of the Washington game.