Cowboys DE Lawrence response to Eagles coach Pederson 'guarantee': 'Shut your ass up'
FRISCO – The Dallas Cowboys, on a macro level, obviously had no intention of responding to the silly "semi-guarantee'' of a Philadelphia win on Sunday as issued by their head coach. But Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence has a habit of going micro. And going personal. And going profane.
“Tell him to come on,'' Tank said Friday from the locker room here at The Star. "We're ready. Can he play the game? He might want to shut his ass up and stay on the sidelines. He can’t play the game for them. ... We’ll see.”
Whatever problems these 3-3 Cowboys have - and as losers of three straight entering tonight's showdown here at AT&T Stadium against the 3-3 Philadelphia Eagles, both supposed "contenders'' have problems - a certain level of spirit does not seem to be among them.
To know this, you have to be here, in the building - or at least, to believe those of us who are.
I'm not in the Eagles building. But I still understand what their coach, Doug Pederson, was trying to do when he spoke early this week of the road trip to DFW.
“We're going down to Dallas and our guys are going to be ready to play,'' Pederson said this week on Philly radio station WIP. "And we're going to win that football game, and when we do, we're in first place in the NFC East.”
Them's fightin' words ... right? Right, even though Pederson followed up his "guarantee'' by trying to un-push the button, saying later that same day, “Can I just clear something up real quick? I never used the term or the word ‘guarantee.''
“All I was doing was showing confidence in my football team because there comes a point, especially here in Philadelphia, where you lose a game or two and everybody feels like everything’s kind of caving in on the football team.''
Putting aside the wimpy back-track ("I didn't use the word 'guarantee' sounds like something a third-grader would argue): That's what team captain Tank Lawrence is trying to do, too.
And on Sunday night at AT&T Stadium, we will find out which team "shuts up the other's ass.''
