The Dallas Cowboys, for most of the 2025 NFL season, have been focusing exclusively on one side of the ball. While the defense, made demonstrably worse by the loss of Micah Parsons, has faltered, the offense is having maybe its best season ever under Dak Prescott.
Excellent through the air and on the ground, the career renaissance from Javonte Williams has come at one cost. After drafting Jaydon Blue in the fifth round to play a major role on the team, head coach Brian Schottenheimer hasn’t had to use him much. Things went a step further in Week 11, when he was surprisingly inactive for the game.
Brian Schottenheimer Explains Jaydon Blue Missing Week 11 for the Cowboys
A combination of a lethal passing game featuring George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb, combined with a career renaissance from Williams, has given Dallas a puncher’s chance in every game. The latter, though, was the biggest shock.
Rico Dowdle came into his own in the second half of the season last year, but the Cowboys didn’t believe he could handle lead-back responsibilities going into 2025. They’ve turned out to be wildly incorrect, but their plan hasn’t gone completely off the rails.
Despite a spectacular season from Dowdle, Dallas has also gotten some incredible production from Williams, who is up to 809 rushing yards through 10 games (24 behind Dowdle’s total) and ranks 10th on PFSN’s RB Impact.
As a result, the team has mixed in Miles Sanders, Malik Davis, and the Blue mentioned above for the RB2 role. This week, though, was a rather curious week for the franchise. Facing the Las Vegas Raiders after making some significant defensive additions at the trade deadline, they thoroughly dominated their competition.
That was due to Pickens and Lamb being forced to miss the first script as a result of disciplinary action taken against them by the team itself. Another key thing that caught many people’s attention was the lack of Blue in the game plan.
Going inactive for the game, he had to cede RB2 duties to Davis, who has seven total carries this season. Finally, Schottenheimer explained his rationale behind the move, citing the rookies’ inexperience as the primary reason for the healthy scratch.
As Jon Machota of The Athletic covered his comments, “Jaydon is learning a lot about this league. He’s always going to continue to compete and put his best foot forward. He doesn’t have to like the decision if it goes against him to play someone else, but he’s got to make sure he’s always prepared to go play.”
However, the first time, the head coach expressed confidence that Blue could one day be “the guy” for the Cowboys. “Jaydon has to understand, until you’re the guy, which at some point hopefully he is the guy, you got to be able to impact the game in other ways. I think he understands that.”
Currently, the focus for Dallas must be firmly on making it into the playoffs. The plethora of moves at the deadline made their intentions of remaining competitive this season woefully clear.
That could come at the expense of some playing time for Blue. But for the overall benefit of the group, Schottenheimer has his sights firmly set on getting into a Wild Card spot.
