Dallas Cowboys: Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith’s 30 snaps

Dallas Cowboys: Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith’s 30 snaps

That must mean that all the chatter is true and that they aren’t long, at all, for the future of the Dallas Cowboys. Right? Well, it could be. They could be on the way out of the door and specifically in the case of Vander Esch, as they aren’t contractually tied to him.

However, it could mean something else too. Just like the circumstances surrounding Ezekiel Elliott in last week’s opener, the game plan and game flow just weren’t conducive to a ton of snaps for these guys.

Tom Brady likes to toss the ball around, use multiple packages, and often ones that have a lot of route-work in them. You need fast, multiple, partial hit/partial cover guys in there to compete with that. Yes, this was likely just a one-off, at least, to that extreme of a disparity. Smith has always been known for his speed, meaning he can play with Parsons and a lot more in a spread-out format than he did on Thursday.