Much of the scrutiny has centered on Dallas’ defense, which has struggled to find consistency during the team’s early-season stretch.Against that backdrop, the Cowboys held a players-only meeting.This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners.
If you sign up or place a wager, FOX News may be compensated.This content was created by a team that works independently from the FOX newsroom.While former Pittsburgh Steelers coach and current NBC Sports NFL analyst Mike Tomlin questioned what players-only meetings could signal for an NFL team, Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer does not view the situation as cause for alarm.
Instead, he sees a players-only meeting as a sign that "everyone’s rowing in the same direction."THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE.DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!Dallas Cowboys defenders huddle up during an NFL game between the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys on Oct.
4, 2026, at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Schottenheimer continued, explaining why he sees value in players-only meetings: "I love it.
I've said from the very beginning, the best teams I've ever been around are led by the locker room.And my information that I received from some of those guys that called that meeting, it was very productive.
It was very open and honest."After last Thursday's loss to the Bucs, Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown confirmed reports that the defensive players held a meeting to assess whether they were meeting the team’s standards.The players went "by bullet point, bullet point," Overshown said, working through the areas where they needed to improve.During the latest episode of Jason and Travis Kelce’s "New Heights" podcast, Tomlin offered a blunt assessment when asked about NFL players holding meetings without coaches or other staff members."I think you’re dead," he said.MIKE TOMLIN OFFERS BLUNT TAKE ON NFL PLAYERS-ONLY MEETINGS: ‘I THINK YOU’RE ...