Cowboys OC admits fault for George Pickens’ limited snaps

FRISCO, Texas — George Pickens has been banged up for a couple of weeks, and the Dallas Cowboys have limited him in practice and in games because of it, offensive coordinator Klayton Adams said Thursday.

That is the reason Ryan Flournoy has seen more of the field, according to Adams, and not anything else.

Pickens was listed as questionable last week with shoulder and hamstring injuries before playing Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.

On Wednesday, he was limited again with a hamstring injury.

“No, there’s been a couple of weeks now where George has been banged up, and we’ve limited him in some capacities because of that,” Adams said.

“He’s been limited some on the practice field,” Adams said.

“He’s been limited some in the game as well, and that’s from my understanding, which I think is correct, is that’s the reason that that’s been the case, not anything else.”

Cowboys COO and executive vice president Stephen Jones said Monday on 105.3 The Fan’s “K&C Masterpiece” that Pickens had been dealing with his hamstring and other issues.

Pickens caught 2 passes for 48 yards on 4 targets in the 33-30 overtime loss to Arizona.

Neither Pickens nor CeeDee Lamb was on the field to start overtime, a group Adams said was not a designed personnel.

A receiver who runs a route 40 yards downfield sometimes needs a breather, Adams said, and Dallas doesn’t always control who is out there next.

That first overtime drive ended when Josh Sweat sacked Dak Prescott.

“Yeah, I’m not sure that that was a designed personnel,” Adams explained.

“I think that was more of a happening where … because sometimes a guy runs a route way down the field, he takes himself out, you put another guy in,” Adams said.

“We try to monitor … there’s obviously … there’s certain routes that only one of those guys is going to run.”

“But you’re … sometimes a guy runs a route 40 yards downfield and he needs a breather and another guy goes in,” Adams said.

“And you don’t totally always have control over that.”

Through eight games, Pickens has 39 catches for 533 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Tuesday that Pickens needs the ball coming his way more, and Adams said Thursday that Dallas has to design plays that force the issue to him.

Dallas is 3-5 and visits the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium, with kickoff set for noon CT on FOX.

The Cowboys release their final injury report of the week Friday.

THE TRADE CHATTER BACKGROUND

The NFL trade deadline is rapidly approaching, and there are questions about whether the Dallas Cowboys could be buyers or sellers when the Tuesday, November 10, deadline arrives.

Dallas has been struggling over the past month, including three losses in four weeks in very winnable games, which has reignited conversations about potentially trading away star wide receiver George Pickens.

Pickens is playing on the franchise tag and has seen his production take a dip this season, but he still has plenty of supporters in the locker room.

One of Pickens’ biggest supporters has been star quarterback Dak Prescott, who was asked about the trade chatter when speaking to the media ahead of the team’s Week 9 showdown against the Indianapolis Colts.

Prescott was asked for his message to those who think the Cowboys should move Pickens at the deadline, and his response raised some eyebrows.

Not only did Prescott praise Pickens as a teammate, but he also seemingly appeared to shade the team’s play-calling for not putting the star pass catcher in the right opportunities.

“People say a lot of things I don’t believe, so I’m not listening to that one, either,” Prescott said.

“George is a great teammate,” Prescott said.

“And I say that in the sense of, he’s gonna do whatever is asked, he’s gonna do whatever is called,” Prescott said.