Why an angry Brian Schottenheimer was short with media following Dallas Cowboys job-saving win

As the Dallas Cowboys ran to the locker room after Monday’s 38-21 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles, the players hooped and trolled Eagles fans in tunnel with their Fly Eagles Fly dance.

Some even took shots at the media.

It’s understandable for the Cowboys to let off some steam as the win broke a two-game losing streak and kept their hopes of making the playoffs alive at a still disappointing 3-4 mark.

Quarterback Dak Prescott, who tossed three touchdown passes, called it a must-win game and that’s how the team approached it.

The players even celebrated in the locker room blasting “Dreams and Nightmares” through the speakers. Dreams and Nightmares” by Philly native Meek Mill is famously the signature Super Bowl-winning anthem of the Eagles.

But when it came to time talk to the press after the game, the normally affable and loquacious coach Brian Schottenheimer was buttoned up and surprisingly short.

His post-game pressers usually last 10-15 minutes. This one last roughly four minutes.

It was the culmination of a trying week for Schottenheimer, who took heat from the media for calling himself a great coach and an elite player caller.

And then there were questions about his job security after going 7-9-1 last season and opening 2-4 in 2026 before Monday’s much-needed win.

Owner Jerry Jones said before the game that this was as big a seventh game of the season for the team and the coach that he could remember.

When asked about his attitude, Schottenheimer said he was fine and that nothing was different.

“I’m great. Excited for our guys,” Schottenheimer said.

Schottenheimer said he was angry and pissed off early in the week.

Prescott said that’s the Schottenheimer he saw on Monday night. He said he is coach was angry and likely perturbed about things that were said about him.

“Definitely hungry, pissed off version of Schottenheimer,” Prescott said. “It’s not like he’s naive. It’s not like he hadn’t heard some noise about him and whether it’s the call in the games or whatever doubt that’s been out there, but we’ve got his back. He knows that. He’s a guy that takes a lot of pride in his job, a lot of pride in his team. Everybody handles everything different, so I don’t blame him to an extent. We’ve got his back. More importantly, it’s just about us going out there and executing.”

Prescott said didn’t have an conversations with Schottenheimer about his mindset but you feel it and the team followed his lead with the victory.

“Yeah, it was just evident,” Prescott said. “There’s actually no conversations about it. I’m not one to talk about that for the most part. The only thing we can do is go control what’s in front of us. I think he’s very much the same way and I think that’s why the hunger was set in. We had a full week of not being able to go back out there and get the win or get the taste out of our mouth from the last couple of weeks, you can say. I was just anxious to get to it, and you can tell we had a great week of preparation, nothing different than we’ve been doing, but great communication throughout the week and it continued all day today.”

“And at the end of day, he’s our head coach. We’re going to follow him. As I said, we’ve got his back and we appreciate that.”

Here is the full transcript of the Schottenheimer post-game presser:

On recent games and the need for a win:

“We played really well tonight, second half. Had nothing to do with desperation. Our guys should play well.”

On general thoughts of the offense:

“Pretty good.”

On fans taunting before the game:

“I didn’t hear it.”

On whether he gave a peace sign:

“I did that to other people. I had headphones on.”

On the run game, specifically Cowboys RB Javonte Williams:

“I’m going to start with the offensive end. They were outstanding. Great run plan. But [Cowboys RB] Javonte [Williams], man, the power, the acceleration was there tonight, but great. Then I’m going to talk about [Cowboys RB Tyler Goodson] as well. It was a great change of pace overall. I thought the run game was really good. [The] receivers blocked well. It was a good night.”

On the difference in offensive play compared to last year:

“No, it felt good. I thought [Cowboys QB] Dak [Prescott] played awesome. We were good on third downs – 204 yards rushing. It was pretty good. That was good.”

On his thoughts of the defense tonight:

“Yeah, again, we’ve got to be a little bit better against the run. Third down, we tightened up a little bit in the second half. All in all, we held them to 21 points. It gives us a chance.”

On the locker room atmosphere:

“Guys were excited. Yeah, it’s been a couple weeks coming, but they were excited. We’re ready for Arizona. We’ll play there in a couple days.”

On Cowboys QB Dak Prescott saying the team viewed this game as a must-win:

“No. I thought it was the next championship opportunity. But again, I think it gets us right back into the hunt in the NFC [East Division].”

On Cowboys QB Dak Prescott’s performance:

“Outstanding.”

On areas that stood out:

“Just patience and poise in the pocket. It jumped off the film. Anytime you throw three touchdowns like that, the two-point conversion was great. He looked like he was in control out there all night.”

On Cowboys LB DeMarvion Overshown’s interception and his insertion back into the defense:

“It was great playing number one. A lot like [LB Dee Winters] last week. The catch was awesome. Put us into a four-minute situation, and it was awesome to see him back out there along with [Cowboys CB] Cobie Durant.”

On getting Cowboys WR George Pickens more involved offensively and his success in the game:

“Yeah, solid. Again, spread the ball around. Wanted to run it some more tonight. We did that, but anytime those two guys get open, especially one-on-one, [Cowboys WR] George [Pickens], they’re tough.”

On the thought process of having Cowboys LB Shemar James starting:

“He’s earned it. Great control of what we’re doing. Awesome job with the green dot and just proud of his command.”

On if he was the only one with the green dot?

“Well, we did rotate some guys through when he came out.”

On how important it was to get a win tonight:

“We’ll think about this one tonight; really important. Want to play well again next week and beat a good Arizona team.”

On whether he has high expectations for Cowboys DT Quinnen Williams:

“Absolutely. He’s been great all week. He was fired up about this opponent and did a tremendous job just wreaking havoc inside.”

On giving short responses tonight in the press conference:

“I’m great. Excited for our guys.”