So many players in Dallas have talked about playing with a chip on their shoulder that even offensive coordinator Scott Linehan was asked the question this week.
“I just think we all feel that, so it’s not about me or anything else,” Linehan said.
Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott said earlier this week he is playing with a chip on his shoulder after a six-game suspension and an off year. Dak Prescott apparently feels a chip on his shoulder, too. (It brought back memories of Johnny Manziel’s famous quote to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle and me four years ago when we asked what would happen if the Texans passed on him with the No. 1 overall choice: “It would be the worst decision they’ve ever made. . . . Sorry, but you just turned that chip on my shoulder from a Frito into a Dorito.”)
So, back to Prescott feeling that Dortio on his shoulder. . .
“I think this whole team does,” Prescott said. “To answer that question, of course I do. I want to portray that or allow that to be contagious to my teammates, and hopefully they do as well and hopefully they have a big chip on their shoulder.”
Prescott’s sophomore season wasn’t as good as his rookie season, so he was asked if that was what created his chip. Or was it the fact the Cowboys didn’t make the playoffs? Or does being a fourth-round draft choice play into it?
“I think it’s a little bit of a combination of things,” Prescott said. “Not making the playoffs last year, the season we had, the season I had. Anytime I play the game, it’s about where I was drafted and the people that were drafted before me so it’s a bunch of things that create that chip, and I’m excited to go out there and let it go.”
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett creates slogans every season that he emblazons on T-shirts for the team. “Fight” and “Respect” are among the rallying cries for the Cowboys. Maybe he should add “Dorito” to the collection.