{"id":13249,"date":"2024-12-22T07:52:30","date_gmt":"2024-12-22T07:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=13249"},"modified":"2024-12-22T07:52:30","modified_gmt":"2024-12-22T07:52:30","slug":"cowboys-qb-sends-strong-message-to-injured-ceedee-lamb-ahead-of-week-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=13249","title":{"rendered":"Cowboys QB Sends Strong Message to Injured CeeDee Lamb Ahead of Week 16"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"l-article__header\"><\/header>\n<div class=\"l-article__meta\">\n<div class=\"l-article__meta-item l-article__meta-item--dates\">\n<ul class=\"c-meta c-meta--post c-meta--list c-meta--dates\">\n<li class=\"c-meta__item c-meta__item--updated\"><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"l-article__content\">\n<div class=\"c-content entry-content\">\n<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2189125913_0b6d3c-e1734799946707.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2189125913_0b6d3c-e1734799946707.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2189125913_0b6d3c-e1734799946707.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2189125913_0b6d3c-e1734799946707.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Cowboys star CeeDee Lamb\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" data-img-load-time=\"873\" data-dom-ready-time=\"1044\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Cowboys star CeeDee Lamb<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It has not been a sterling year for<a href=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/sports\/nfl\/dallas-cowboys\/\">\u00a0C<\/a>owboys\u00a0star\u00a0CeeDee Lamb, who normally ranks among the best four or five wide receivers in the NFL. He got off to a slow start because of a preseason holdout as he awaited a new contract from the team, and once he got back on the field, adversity awaited.<\/p>\n<p>Dak Prescott\u00a0got hurt in Week 9 and has been out since, missing half the year with a hamstring injury. Lamb himself got hurt, too, injuring his AC joint in his shoulder, a painful injury he\u2019s tried to play through. Through it all, Lamb has\u00a0managed 1,089 yards\u00a0receiving, the fourth time he has met that threshold in his career.<\/p>\n<p>Still, it is not a typical Lamb season, especially not compared with last year, when he caught 135 passes and set a franchise record with 1,749 yards receiving. At Pro Football Focus, Lamb has graded out with a 75.9, which is decent, and ranks\u00a029th out of 128 receivers\u00a0(he was sixth last year).<\/p>\n<div id=\"AdThrive_Content_1_desktop\" class=\"adthrive-ad adthrive-content adthrive-content-1 adthrive-ad-cls\" data-google-query-id=\"\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/18190176,25816858\/AdThrive_Content_1\/5ad7479721520f50ab7da88e_0__container__\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"google-ad-manager-fallback-container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Cowboys Lacking at WR<\/h2>\n<p>The problem for the Cowboys is that Lamb is the only receiver on the roster who ranks in the Top 90. No. 2 on the team is Brandin Cooks, who ranks 93rd at PFF. Jalen Tolbert is next, and he is the 100th-rated WR out of 128.<\/p>\n<p>No one is more thankful for the presence of Lamb than backup quarterback\u00a0Cooper Rush, who has managed to keep the team afloat in the wake of Prescott\u2019s absence in large part thanks to Lamb, who has caught 41 of Rush\u2019s 124 completions\u2013nearly one-third\u2013since Rush took over as the starter.<\/p>\n<div id=\"AdThrive_Content_2_desktop\" class=\"adthrive-ad adthrive-content adthrive-content-2 adthrive-ad-cls\" data-google-query-id=\"\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/18190176,25816858\/AdThrive_Content_2\/5ad7479721520f50ab7da88e_0__container__\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"google-ad-manager-fallback-container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Said Rush this week: \u201cI mean he is unbelievable. A couple of throws today he just takes for 20 yards, a screen here, a screen there. The adjustment he makes on the touchdown throw, it\u2019s just elite-level instincts that a lot of guys don\u2019t have at that level. He is just pretty easy to throw to and you have to get him the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>CeeDee Lamb a \u2018Quarterback\u2019s Best Friend\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Going forward, of course, the Cowboys will need to make some major changes. The team is faced with a roster packed with free agents (including Cooks) next offseason, and plenty of areas that need addressing. But they\u2019ll need to make sure that wide receiver is one of those areas, that the team has another pass-catcher to take pressure off Lamb.<\/p>\n<p>Until then, the reliance on Lamb will continue.<\/p>\n<div id=\"AdThrive_Content_3_desktop\" class=\"adthrive-ad adthrive-content adthrive-content-3 adthrive-ad-cls\" data-google-query-id=\"\">\n<div id=\"google_ads_iframe_\/18190176,25816858\/AdThrive_Content_3\/5ad7479721520f50ab7da88e_0__container__\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"google-ad-manager-fallback-container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s just a tough, talented, dynamic football player,\u201d coach Mike McCarthy said, via\u00a0<a title=\"Jon Machota of The Athletic\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/5996635\/2024\/12\/15\/ceedee-lamb-cowboys-1000-yards-panthers-win\/?source=emp_shared_article\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external\">Jon Machota of The Athletic<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cYou can\u2019t find enough ways to get him the ball. And the beauty of CeeDee is you can line him up in the backfield 10 times and hand it to him because he\u2019s a natural runner with the football. \u2026 We just have to continue to find ways to get him the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-slot-rendered-content=\"true\">\u201cHe\u2019s a quarterback\u2019s best friend. He\u2019s easy to throw the ball to. He\u2019s got great body control. When he gets even, he\u2019s leaving with a DB. That\u2019s what you look for in your No. 1 receiver. He\u2019s everything you ever wanted and more.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Cowboys star CeeDee Lamb It has not been a sterling year for\u00a0Cowboys\u00a0star\u00a0CeeDee Lamb, who normally ranks among the best four or five wide receivers in the&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cowboys QB Sends Strong Message to Injured CeeDee Lamb Ahead of Week 16 - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=13249\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cowboys QB Sends Strong Message to Injured CeeDee Lamb Ahead of Week 16 - 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