Turpin had a poor year in 2025 by his standards, and now he's revealed what the plan is to get back to his All-Pro level.
The 2025 season was one that Dallas Cowboys' All-Pro returner KaVontae Turpin will want to forget in a hurry.
From his odd penalties on special teams where he would signal a fair catch, only to then return the punt, to his lack of explosiveness as a returner, it all was just odd.
Turpin went from a dynamic, nightmarish weapon to defend, to a player who didn't really have much impact in games.
The special teams problems were often forgotten because of how bad the defense was, but there's no denying the Cowboys were horrible in Nick Sorensen's first season as special teams coordinator.
I had a theory that too much was put on Turpin's plate from an offensive standpoint, and that took away his talents on special teams.
So maybe fewer offensive snaps and more time focused on his return abilities are the plan for 2026.
But Turpin has detailed what his biggest problem was in 2025 and revealed the plan to fix it.
"I just say just looking back on my film and what I did, I just got to stop stomping my feet,” Turpin said. “I ain't live to my expectation when I had the 33 yards average [per return], but I still average like 25, I still was up there like top five.
"I understand the expectation I put on myself, I got to be better, but at the same time, I just got to keep stopping my feet, that's the plan that me and Nick, Schotty, we looked at, so we just got to run through the smoke.”
We know what a field-flipping weapon Turpin can be for Dallas, but he was the furthest thing from that last season.
Not very often did we see the offense start in good field position thanks to a long return from Turpin. And the times KaVontae did break through for a big return, it was often called back due to a penalty.
So the defense isn't the only phase of the game the Cowboys have to improve; it's also on special teams.
Turpin knows what the problem was last season and how to fix it.
Time will tell if Dallas gets its All-Pro returner back in 2026.
