Are Cowboys Players 'Soft' Or 'Angry'? Empty Locker Room Raises Questions

The Dallas Cowboys' 33-30 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals at AT&T Stadium on Sunday marks perhaps the darkest moment of the Brian Schottenheimer era.

And Monday at team headquarters at The Star wasn't any brighter.

With many now calling for the second-year head coach Schottenheimer - sporting his 10-14-1 record - to be fired, watching and listening to how the Cowboys would behave in the wake of a devastating failure was merited. 

Well, on Monday inside the locker room, there was nothing to watch and nothing to listen to.

Cowboys players were essentially nowhere to be seen during the media-availability portion of the day.

What's behind The Dallas Disappearing Act?

The Athletic's Jon Machota posted on X: "The Cowboys just had locker room availability, but majority of roster left the facility before we got in there. No players were interviewed. Can’t say I remember that happening before."

I can testify, after 37 years of covering the Cowboys, that is has happened before. ... and that there are generally two explanations.

One, the players - driven by look-in-the-mirror anger - banded together and decided collectively to quit spewing empty platitudes to the audience, choosing to re-commit and focus on fixing this 3-5 mess.

Or ...

Two, the players - crushed by criticism and unwilling to deal with any more of it - are soft. And are checking out.

Schottenheimer's comments suggest the latter possibility isn't in play here.

When asked Monday about his ability to keep the team unified, Schottenheimer said, "I don't worry about that with this group. This is a group of pros, high-character individuals, high-character men that believe in one another and what we're doing."

But ...

Didn't Schottenheimer himself appear to be pouting with a couple of recent media interactions featuring unusually curt responses following a week during which he was bashed for foolishly labeling himself a "great'' and "elite'' coach?

And ...

Why would "high-character men'' skip out of the regular (and mandated) media session? Dealing with reporters is literally part of the job. Why would "high-character men'' not do their jobs?

(Sidebar 1: For the Cowboys fan who thinks reporters shouldn't bother even noting all of this ... Know that players aren't supposed to make themselves available for interviews for my benefit; they're supposed to communicate their thoughts and insights for your benefit.)

(Sidebar 2: For the Cowboys fan who thinks, "Good! They're finally shutting up instead of offering stupid or empty or tone-deaf quotes''? You've got a point.)

The locker-room leader of this collection of "high-character men,'' Dak Prescott, has twice in recent weeks lashed out at critics by questioning their manhood.

"Cowardly'' is his new pet word.

But isn't it especially "cowardly'' to duck out of one's own locker room in order to hide from the spotlight ... a spotlight that these guys have no problem basking in when they win?

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I've been careful not to speculate as to the reason for the Dallas Disappearing Act. Good for me, because the Cowboys PR department is now explaining that there was a "team meeting that finished earlier than anticipated, and players left'' before the media arrived.

So, a sort of "scheduling glitch.''

But wait: An assortment of reporters have said that there were still a few players in the locker room - but that they declined to speak. And besides, wouldn't a "brotherhood''-based team - as Dak's Cowboys so often insist they are - choose to stay at The Star and spend time together, even if it meant dealing with the pesky media?

It would. Unless they're all just too "angry'' or just too "soft.''

"Accountability'' is a big word that gets thrown around a lot around here.

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And again, even though the Cowboys have already tried one "players-only meeting'' this year (that's a bullet that can't be fired multiple times in a season), maybe Dallas is "circling the wagons" at The Star in a way that will pay off.

Maybe, at a time when immense pressure is on each and every player, they are sticking together, locking it down, avoiding reporters because they are angry with themselves (as opposed to being mad at the media), and are in their own positive and powerful world of "brotherhood''?

You as a Cowboys fan are free to believe as you choose.

But outside of the influence of the "scheduling glitch,'' you only have two choices.

Either the Cowboys players are "angry and re-committed.''

Or they're "soft and checked-out.''