NFL: NFC Wild Card Round-Green Bay Packers at Dallas Cowboys
USATSI

The Dallas Cowboys' 2024 season has not gone according to plan. Dallas sits at 3-6 following a 34-6 loss to the rival Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, but to make matters worse, quarterback Dak Prescott will now miss the remainder of the year due to a hamstring injury.

Cooper Rush is expected to start under center for the Cowboys moving forward, with a little bit of Trey Lance sprinkled in potentially. Both players struggled in Week 10, as they combined for just 66 passing yards and one interception. 

Despite the slow start to the second half of the season, the Cowboys still have confidence. Tight end Jake Ferguson voiced his support for Rush and Lance when speaking with CBS Sports this week. 

"I have all the faith in the world in those two," Ferguson said. "I tell everybody, my first NFL touchdown was from Cooper Rush. The way those two approach the game, the way they approach each day getting into the facilities ... the meetings, the practices, whatever it may be, the walk-throughs. Those guys are approaching it full steam ahead with supreme confidence. And my job as 1/11ths of the offense is not only to do my job at the best level that I can, but also to give them that confidence that, 'Hey, I can throw the ball to 87 if I need to ...'"

One of the big storylines to come out of the Cowboys' loss to the Eagles was the sun. Yes, the big ball of fire in the sky. With Dallas playing in the late afternoon, the sun was peeking through the windows of AT&T Stadium, which caused some problems for CeeDee Lamb in the end zone. After missing a touchdown catch due to the glare, Lamb told reporters he is "one thousand percent" in favor of blackout curtains being used for Cowboys home games.

Ferguson, who was somewhat a part of this now infamous "sun drop," actually took responsibility for the fiasco that it has evolved into. 

"You know, I wasn't standing where CeeDee was. I wasn't seeing what he was seeing," Ferguson said. "In my eyes, I think I should have caught that ball. If you watch the video back, you can kind of see me in the area. If I reach my hands out and catch that ball, the whole country isn't having this conversation. So in my eyes, I should have caught that ball. In my eyes, I also should have finished the route. I stopped in the route and came back. I shouldn't have done that, I should keep stretching it. But like I said, in my eyes I should have caught that ball."

Ferguson clearly pulled his hands back with the ball heading in his direction midair. We asked, did he know the ball was going to Lamb? 

"Yeah, in the moment, that's what I was thinking," Ferguson said.

As he mentioned, Ferguson's job on the play in question was to take defenders out of that area to create more space for Rush and Lamb. But he cut the route back and got into the throwing lane. Ferguson says bottom line, he should have caught that ball.

Not a lot went right for the Cowboys last week. How do you wipe the slate clean and move on from a tough loss?

"For me, it's fairly easy. I tend not to get in my head that often," Ferguson said. "I tend to live each day, day by day, and I know that there's another opportunity ahead. And as this team -- you know we've talked about teams being in this position before. There's been teams that have been 3-6 and gone on to win games and gone on to do great things and make big stretches in the postseason. There's two things you can do: You can either roll over and quit or you can buckle down and make some things happen, and that's what this team is going to do, and I'm excited to see it and I know these guys don't quit, and I know neither do I."

Ferguson has one more year remaining on his rookie deal following the 2024 season. We had to ask: Does he want to remain in Dallas? What are his thoughts on the future?

"I want to play in Dallas, I love it here," said Ferguson. "You know ... this organization, as much hate or whatever you want to call it, as much riffraff they say, it still is the best organization there is. They take care of theirs, if you win games here you will be taken care of. And it is my job, it is our job as players to win games. That's how I see it. 

"It's an honor, it's a privilege to play for the Dallas Cowboys. I see it that way with any team I play on. I saw it that way when I played at Wisconsin, I saw it that way when I played high school football, I saw it that way when I played youth ball. You're a reflection of the team you play for, and you're a reflection of the guys on it. I try to embody that every day, it's an honor to play for the Dallas Cowboys, and I love it here." 

If Ferguson ever gets tired of catching passes for America's Team, he may take up firefighting. This week, he teamed up with USAA, Official Salute to Service Partner, and joined the Arlington Fire Department to do a controlled demonstration of what could go wrong in the kitchen on Thanksgiving.  

"I partnered with USAA and the city of Arlington to raise awareness in the community on how to stay safe this Thanksgiving while we're cooking meals and trying to avoid those home fires. Especially when we're doing the deep frying of the turkey," Ferguson said.