OXNARD, Calif. (AP) 鈥� To hear Dallas Cowboys coaches and players tell it, anyone within earshot of a defensive meeting knows something is happening.
鈥淚f you step in our meeting room, you hear how loud it is, you might think something wrong is going on,鈥� defensive coordinator Christian Parker said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 a good thing. Guys are understanding what needs to be said.鈥�
For Parker, the what was one of the NFL鈥檚 worst defenses last season, everything starts with the communication inside those walls.
鈥淲e still have more to go, but there鈥檚 a lot of encouraging things that are happening from a vocal standpoint,鈥� he said.
Parker, who spent the past five seasons as a defensive backs coach for the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles before , has players going through the multiple layers of verbal and non-verbal give and take required.
鈥淔or example, if you鈥檙e a linebacker on the field, you鈥檙e making the front adjustment,鈥� he said, going through what reviewing one play from a training camp practice entails. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e an outside linebacker and you see that the Y is off, you鈥檙e saying something to your partner. If I鈥檓 a DB, I鈥檓 calling out the coverage communication. Motion happens, we鈥檙e alerting this, we鈥檙e passing off this. Once the play starts, what is the communication?鈥�
The goal is to create conditions as close to a game as possible in order to develop the necessary muscle memory and awareness to succeed when things get real, starting with their season opener at the New York Giants on Sept. 13.
鈥淵ou know, your brain doesn鈥檛 know that you鈥檙e not taking a physical rep. It just knows that your brain is strained,鈥� Parker said. 鈥淪o, as many reps that we can get on task as that as possible, we want to try to take advantage of those in that space.鈥�
Early returns have been promising, with the secondary showing far fewer breakdowns than it did a year ago, but the first major test of Parker鈥檚 influence will come when the Cowboys visit the Los Angeles Rams for a joint practice on Tuesday.
Safety Malik Hooker remembers how the poorly the pass defense performed in a 2025 workout with the Rams, an early indication the Cowboys would go on to allow the most yards through the air in the league.
鈥淚 feel like last year we had a lot of big plays given up off communication errors,鈥� Hooker said. 鈥淣ot only that, I feel like our physicality didn鈥檛 really show as much that day.鈥�
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