Cowboys Mysteriously Bench CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens vs. Raiders

Stephen Douglas | Nov 17, 2025

George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb did not start against the Raiders on Monday. / @ESPN

The Raiders hosted the Cowboys for Monday Night Football in Week 11, and the Las Vegas defense, viewers and broadcasters were all surprised to learn that Dallas had made a change to its lineup.

Star wide receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens were not on the field for the first drive as the Cowboys went three-and-out. The Cowboys ran the ball twice and then Dak Prescott threw an incomplete pass as ESPN broadcasters Joe Buck and Troy Aikman wondered what was going on.

When the Raiders took over on offense, ESPN’s Lisa Salters had an explanation. Sort of:

CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens did not play on the Cowboys' first drive due to a coach's decision. pic.twitter.com/owoJA7ZFpy

— ESPN (@espn) November 18, 2025

“I was just told by Cowboys PR the reason CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens were not out on the field—it was not an injury related situation; it was strictly a coaches decision," reported Salters. "I asked was it punishment of some sort? And I was told, ‘You’ll have to address that with coach; all we can tell you is it was not injury related, it was strictly a coaches decision.'”

Lamb and Pickens were back on the field for the Cowboys' second drive of the game. According to one report, it was for disciplinary reasons. We may have to wait until coach Brian Schottenheimer addressed the media after the game to find out exactly what happened.

Over the weekend, Giants rookie pass rusher Abdul Carter was benched for his team's first drive for missing a walk through.

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