Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb has publicly addressed what he said to Dak Prescott on the sidelines during the second quarter of Sunday’s 20-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaking to reporters, Lamb explained he told Prescott to throw jump balls “and I got you” after footage of the incident went viral when it appeared the star wideout was yelling at his quarterback after an interception.
CeeDee Lamb explaining what he said to Dak Prescott on the sideline following the end-zone interception in Pittsburgh: “Jump balls, Four. Jump balls and I got you.”
Prescott said he knew he had thrown the wrong kind of pass the instant he released the ball. pic.twitter.com/iSdXDyE8am
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdNFL) October 10, 2024
What was CeeDee saying to Dak on the sideline 😳 pic.twitter.com/25HQXxiejK
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) October 7, 2024
Dallas drove down the field and got into position for a touchdown before the half that would have extended its lead to 10 points, but Prescott was picked off by Steelers cornerback Donte Jackson on a throw that looked like the Cowboys quarterback was expecting Lamb to run a different route.
Donte Jackson snags the INT for the @Steelers!
📺: #DALvsPIT on NBC/Peacock
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/ubpQE5EYah— NFL (@NFL) October 7, 2024
The situation almost turned into a Zapruder film with fans and analysts speculating that Lamb was unhappy with his quarterback in that moment. A common response from the online-lip-reading community was he said either “subpar throw” and/or “subpar Dak.”
While subpar doesn’t really seem like the type of insult a football player would use on the sideline in a moment of frustration, Lamb’s clarification makes sense that fans would arrive at that conclusion because there’s not much difference in terms of the way a mouth moves to say “jump ball” compared to “subpar.”
It was also understandable why fans might sense some tension between the Cowboys stars because they did have a moment in Week 3 against the Baltimore Ravens when Lamb was seen on the television broadcast yelling at Prescott.
The Cowboys have started to turn things after a slow start this season. They enter Sunday’s showdown with the Detroit Lions coming off back-to-back wins in which the defense has allowed a total of 529 yards after giving up more than 400 yards in losses to the Ravens and New Orleans Saints.
Dallas’ offense is still trying to find a consistent rhythm after committing three turnovers against the Steelers. The unit has scored 25 or fewer points in four straight games after dropping 33 in Week 1 against the Cleveland Browns.
A win over the Lions would send the Cowboys into their bye week with a 4-2 record leading up to a clash with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football in Week 8.