{"id":133722,"date":"2025-08-10T06:54:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T06:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/133722\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T06:54:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T06:54:12","slug":"cowboys-joe-milton-with-plenty-to-correct-after-rocky-preseason-opener-vs-rams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/133722\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys, Joe Milton with plenty to correct after rocky preseason opener vs. Rams"},"content":{"rendered":"

INGLEWOOD, Calif. \u2014 The Brian Schottenheimer era got off to an inauspicious start<\/a> Saturday afternoon in the Cowboys\u2019 preseason opener against the Rams.<\/p>\n

His offense looked lost at times and his backup quarterback, Joe Milton, displayed some jitters as the starter<\/a> and left the game late with a bruised elbow.<\/p>\n

When things were over, the Rams\u2019 31-21 beatdown of the Cowboys was just a continuation of the joint scrimmage<\/a> the teams had less than a week ago.<\/p>\n

Related:Five takeaways from Cowboys-Rams: Backup QB Joe Milton remains a work in progress<\/a><\/p>\n

Cowboys<\/p>\n

Be the smartest Cowboys fan. Get the latest news.<\/p>\n

See photos as Cowboys kick off preseason vs. LA Rams<\/p>\n

\"DallasView Gallery<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely not a storybook beginning for sure,\u201d Schottenheimer said. \u201cWe just struggled. I think it was 25 plays to 6 or something at one point and obviously it\u2019s not a great way to start. But they converted some fourth downs, they controlled the ball [and] we had our three and outs and I think Joe was throwing some fastballs out there early.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cowboys didn\u2019t score a touchdown until the fourth quarter. Milton, who misfired on numerous passes, completed 17 of 29 passes for 143 yards with a touchdown and one interception. The Rams rushed for more yards (181) than Milton had throwing yards.<\/p>\n

The Cowboys\u2019 defense didn\u2019t register any sacks but did get two quarterback hits on Rams quarterback Stetson Bennett IV. The Rams compiled three plays of 25 or more yards, including a 39-yard completion to Xavier Smith in the first quarter that was challenged by Schottenheimer but upheld by replay.<\/p>\n

Dallas was also penalized 11 times for 83 yards.<\/p>\n

There was a bizarre penalty on receiver CeeDee Lamb<\/a>, who wasn\u2019t playing in the game. Lamb was cheering a long pass that landed incomplete and got run into by side judge Anthony Jeffries as he ran down the sideline. There were also back-to-back penalties on right tackle Asim Richards for illegal formation during a scoring drive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll speak to the whole disciplined part, just like pre-snap penalties, that penalty we got to be better with discipline,\u201d Schottenheimer said. \u201cI hope the guy is OK. I think he\u2019s OK. The official that they ran into. We have to be better than that. CeeDee knows better. We know better. The discipline on our part. We\u2019re fine with the combative penalties but when we line up offsides, they warned us a couple of times, and we have to do a better job of coaching it … Asim got called twice and you can\u2019t give away penalties in this league. We have to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was just part of a hazy preseason opener for Schottenheimer and his Cowboys.<\/p>\n

Milton, known for his strong arm<\/a>, completed his first pass on the second series for negative 1 yard. There was another pass to running back Deuce Vaughn that hit Rams linebacker Elias Neal in the helmet.<\/p>\n

After one quarter, the Cowboys registered just 1 total yard on six plays as they trailed 14-0. Milton was officially credited with 1 passing yard as the Cowboys averaged 0.2 yards per play.<\/p>\n

Things improved after those first two possessions.<\/p>\n

The second quarter saw Schottenheimer stick to the running game, something that was missing in the first quarter. Milton kept the ball on an option for 6 yards and Vaughn, who started the game, gained 8 yards on the next carry.<\/p>\n

But the biggest movement of the drive came on a long incompletion from Milton. He showed off his big arm, which he described as a rocket.<\/p>\n

On a third and 26 from the Dallas 26, Milton threw a long sideline pass to wide receiver Jonathan Mingo, but as the ball landed incomplete, Rams corner Shaun Jolly was flagged for pass interference. It was a 51-yard penalty, yet, Lamb was penalized for running into an official ,which cost the Cowboys 15 yards. So the Cowboys got the ball 38.<\/p>\n

The drive eventually stalled as kicker Brandon Aubrey converted a 35-yard field goal for the first points of the preseason for the Cowboys. And while it\u2019s positive the Cowboys were able to finally score, it was not without some challenges.<\/p>\n

Richards was penalized on back-to-back plays for illegal formation. He didn\u2019t line up on the line of scrimmage. Even on Aubrey\u2019s made field goal tight end Luke Schoonmaker was late getting onto the field and the Cowboys elected to take a delay of game penalty. Aubrey made the field goal with no issue.<\/p>\n

The Cowboys were able to overcome the penalties and finished the first half with a productive drive, yet, it led to another field goal from Aubrey.<\/p>\n

Milton connected on passes to Jalen Brooks and Ryan Flournoy on the final drive of the half. But it didn\u2019t lead to a touchdown. Aubrey converted a 25-yard field goal to cut the Rams lead to 14-6.<\/p>\n

Milton, however, started the second half by throwing an interception. He threw a deep pass into double coverage and was picked off by Cam Lampkin in the Cowboys\u2019 end zone.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t result in any points as the Cowboys\u2019 defense responded with cornerback Israel Mukuamu picking off a Bennett pass with 10:51 left in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

This preseason opener was emotional for Schottenheimer, who said he shed some tears while talking to team owner Jerry Jones before the game. Schottenheimer had dreamed of becoming a head coach and at one point thought an opportunity was going to pass him by.<\/p>\n

But Jones decided to take a chance on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a little bit choked up coming into the stadium and Jerry and I talked a little bit,\u201d Schottenheimer said. \u201cTo be honest, I got a little emotional. It\u2019s been a dream of mine to be in this chair and Jerry and I were talking about our journeys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twitter\/X:<\/b>@calvinwatkins<\/a><\/p>\n

See photos as Cowboys kick off preseason vs. LA Rams<\/p>\n

\"DallasView Gallery\"Dallas<\/a>Full coverage: Cowboys drop preseason opener to Rams<\/a><\/p>\n

Highlights, photos and more as the Cowboys kick off their season.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Cowboys RB Malik Davis finally got his chance vs. Rams, and took advantage<\/a><\/p>\n

In 36 hours, Davis went from being a free agent to being the Cowboys\u2019 leading rusher in the preseason opener.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Joe Milton\u2019s his own biggest critic, but loss to Rams should serve as learning opportunity<\/a><\/p>\n

The Cowboys\u2019 backup QB played nearly the entire game Saturday and graded his performance as \u2018probably a D-minus.\u2019<\/p>\n

Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/b><\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INGLEWOOD, Calif. \u2014 The Brian Schottenheimer era got off to an inauspicious start Saturday afternoon in the Cowboys\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":133723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,7311,1596,8998,1232,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-133722","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-cowboys","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-cowboys","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-tx","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115003160547614914","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}