Source: Cowboys told tripping calls were wrong - 2 minutes read


image

FRISCO, Texas -- It will not change the outcome of Sunday's loss to the New England Patriots, but the Dallas Cowboys were informed by the league office that the two tripping penalties in the 13-9 loss should not have been called, a source told ESPN.

Center Travis Frederick was flagged for tripping on third-and-1, negating an Ezekiel Elliott first down on a 3-yard catch as the Cowboys were driving for a potential go-ahead score late in the fourth quarter. On third-and-11, Dak Prescott's pass to Randall Cobb was incomplete, and his fourth-down pass to Amari Cooper that went for 20 yards was correctly overturned by replay, effectively ending the team's chances to win.

In the first quarter, left tackle Tyron Smith was penalized for tripping, putting the Cowboys in a difficult second-and-23 situation that preceded the blocked punt by the Patriots, which led to the game's only touchdown.

Jason Garrett had no comment on the calls during his Monday news conference.

As to the critical comments made by owner and general manager Jerry Jones at Garrett and to the coaching staff after the defeat, Garrett said, "We've just got to focus on coaching as well as we can and playing as well as we can. There certainly were some things in the game that we have to get better at, and we're going to work on that as a staff and as a football team. But again, our eyes are forward on Buffalo."

With a short week, there was not the normal postgame meeting with Jones.

When asked directly if he felt like he was outcoached by Bill Belichick, Garrett said, "Again, great respect for Coach Belichick and his staff in what they do. They've been fantastic for years. The biggest thing we try to focus on is what we can do better as a coaching staff and as a football team. That's really where our attention is."