Cowboys La’el Collins’ proper tackle will ensure that someone comes to his defense this year.
During Dallas’ fourth-round 27-20 win over the Washington Soccer Team, Dak Prescott was pushed out of the box by William Bradley-King. Collins felt the shove was a cheap blow to his midfield, and he was ready to defend him.
Collins lunged forward and began shoving Bradley-King back, hurling several swings at the Washington manager. In the tumultuous situation, the Cowboys were awarded a 15-yard penalty and Collins was sent off.
“It really wasn’t a late shot for me. I felt it was more than that, I felt like he was rolling towards Dak’s feet. That’s really undisputed. I was just there. here to protect his quarterback at all costs, and that’s the bottom line,” Collins told reporters after the game, by Jon Machota of The Athletic. “You guys don’t look down on the boys. We don’t play that way. We just line up and go out there and play ball. We don’t play dirty, we don’t do that. At the end of the day, we’ll go. there’s no bull at all.”
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Prescott had just hit a 10-yard pass to Amari Cooper with 10:40 left and Dallas was leading 27-8. Bradley-King chased Prescott to Dallas’ 35-yard line and pushed him out of bounds. The penalty erased the first goal and became the third and 23rd for the Cowboys at their own 20-yard line.
Dallas running against Ezekiel Elliott also faced Bradley-King, but it was Collins who created the main foothold.
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The play brings back memories of a similar incident last year, when then-Dallas defender Andy Dalton was hit by Washington defender Jon Bostic. The game was illegal, and it resulted in a concussion for Dalton and removal from the Bostic, but no Dallas attacking quarterback came forward to defend the injured quarterback. That match, they had up to 4 substitutes.
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy called his team last year, saying they didn’t give the “reaction you’d expect” to the incident, according to NFL.com. Needless to say, Collins won the seal of approval from McCarthy around this time.
“LC did exactly what you’re supposed to do there,” McCarthy said, according to ESPN. “We all understand the challenges of running, but whatever you think about that way of playing, this is a game, obviously very competitive. I think the reality is your midfield. or whoever, I just think these games are going to be fun. They’re division games and you just want to see the boys – not just once it starts – I think everyone did a good job locking back and forth. Hey, it happens in this kind of game.”
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Prescott was also a Collins fan supporting him in the play.
“I obviously respect and love the fact that my teammates are standing up for me and that’s how we all feel about each other,” Prescott said, according to ESPN. “It’s not that they protect me. That’s how any of us would react if any of our brothers were in that position. Well, thank you to those.”
