After a humiliating debut against New York, Dallas’s rising defensive coordinator faces a critical gut check. Star Rashan Gary reveals how the coach plans to rebound against Washington.
All offseason, we heard such glowing reviews of Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker.
He's a great teacher, he's got the scheme etc, we heard it all.
During training camp, we saw Parker's vision, even in joint practices. The hype was real for what Parker could do with this defense.
That made the Week 1 matchup a fascinating storyline, with Parker calling it "graduation" for his group after completing their master's to learn his scheme.
Well, they failed...and badly. So back to the classroom they go.
So did Parker, as he was taught a lesson by experienced coordinators Matt Nagy and Greg Roman.
After such a positive offseason, with many seeing Parker as "the guy," to be humbled like that, how the young coordinator responds will be an interesting watch as the Washington Commanders come to town in Week 2.
After a couple of days to digest the loss, how has Parker been inside the building after his debut failed in the worst way possible?
"Oh man, he's been the same guy," Rashan Gary said. "He's been the same guy, had a meeting and understood what we could be better at, came out with a plan of what we're going to do this week to make sure that we get better at those things. But man, he even keeled, man. Stay the distance. Stay the ride."
So, the big test now is how Parker will respond.
He's likely heard all offseason about how good his defense can be, only to be hit in the mouth and never recover in their first real test. That's bad.
What will Parker do to rectify the situation against the Commanders?
Will he try to do something different after analyzing what went wrong against New York? Or will he double down on what has been taught all offseason and give his players another chance to bring his system to life?
Well, one thing is for sure: Parker is the same guy, according to Gary, but the performance we saw in Week 1 can't be the same in Week 2.
If that happens, that panic button in Jerry's office won't be getting gently pushed; it'll be getting bludgeoned.
