OXNARD, Calif. (AP) — To hear Dallas Cowboys coaches and players tell it, anyone within earshot of a defensive meeting knows something is happening.
“If you step in our meeting room, you hear how loud it is, you might think something wrong is going on,” defensive coordinator Christian Parker said. “And that’s a good thing. Guys are understanding what needs to be said.”
For Parker, the 34-year-old newcomer tasked with improving what was one of the NFL’s worst defenses last season, everything starts with the communication inside those walls.
“We still have more to go, but there’s a lot of encouraging things that are happening from a vocal standpoint,” he said.
Parker, who spent the past five seasons as a defensive backs coach for the Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles before joining the Cowboys in January, has players going through the multiple layers of verbal and non-verbal give and take required.
“For example, if you’re a linebacker on the field, you’re making the front adjustment,” he said, going through what reviewing one play from a training camp practice entails. “If you’re an outside linebacker and you see that the Y is off, you’re saying something to your partner. If I’m a DB, I’m calling out the coverage communication. Motion happens, we’re alerting this, we’re passing off this. Once the play starts, what is the communication?”
The goal is to create conditions as close to a game as possible in order to develop the necessary muscle memory and awareness to succeed when things get real, starting with their season opener at the New York Giants on Sept. 13.
“You know, your brain doesn’t know that you’re not taking a physical rep. It just knows that your brain is strained,” Parker said. “So, as many reps that we can get on task as that as possible, we want to try to take advantage of those in that space.”
Early returns have been promising, with the secondary showing far fewer breakdowns than it did a year ago, but the first major test of Parker’s influence will come when the Cowboys visit the Los Angeles Rams for a joint practice on Tuesday.
Safety Malik Hooker remembers how the poorly the pass defense performed in a 2025 workout with the Rams, an early indication the Cowboys would go on to allow the most yards through the air in the league.
“I feel like last year we had a lot of big plays given up off communication errors,” Hooker said. “Not only that, I feel like our physicality didn’t really show as much that day.”
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Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Ceedee Lamb, left, chats with safety Cobie Durant during the NFL football team's training camp, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Oxnard, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Dallas Cowboys cornerback Ameer Speedle, left, breaks up a pass intended for wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling during the NFL football team's training camp, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026, in Oxnard, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Dallas Cowboys cornerback Cobie Durant, left, and defensive back Reddy Steward vie for the ball during the NFL football team's training camp, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, in Oxnard, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
CHICAGO (AP) — DiJonai Carrington of the Chicago Sky was ejected Saturday after being called for a Flagrant 2 foul on Sophie Cunningham of the Indiana Fever. Minutes later, Carrington posted on social media the words “WHITE PRIVILEGE” and tagged the Fever.
Cunningham, who is white, was shooting a fast-break layup in the first quarter when Carrington, who is Black, came from behind and hit her in the head and neck, knocking her to the court as the shot went in.
Cunningham said she thought the foul in the 90-86 Indiana win was “absolutely” intentional.
“Clearly I think it was unnecessary,” Cunningham said. “I’ve never really spoken to her and I have no beef with her, but I guess she has some pent up stuff.”
Fever coach Stephanie White had a different view of the play.
“It was a hard foul,” White said. “I don’t think that Dijonai intentionally came out to get her across the neck like she did, but it did happen, and I thought it was the right call.”
Cunningham got up immediately, charged toward Carrington and pushed her as she was held back by a teammate.
“I popped up,” Cunningham said. “I’m not going to let anyone just do that to me. I think everyone knows that. I think that’s why she did it because she wants attention.”
The play was reviewed and upgraded to a Flagrant 2 after the referee said there was windup, impact and follow-through on the foul.
Sky coach Tyler Marsh said he hadn't seen a replay of the play, but that seeing it live, he thought Carrington was making a play on the ball and that he didn't believe it warranted a Flagrant 2 foul.
“I haven’t looked at that play since, so I really don’t know if it was justified or not,” he said. “But, that’s what I thought in the moment.”
Marsh was then asked about Carrington's social media post.
“I have to get back to you on that because I’m just now hearing about that,” he said. “So yeah, we’ll handle that.”
But Cunningham had plenty to say about the post.
“I think the league is taking care of that,” she said. "This has nothing to do with race. Last year, I did the same thing and I got kicked out. And I deserved to be kicked out. There’s no reason even to play that card.”
In the third quarter, Fever star Caitlin Clark was assessed a technical foul after she made contact with a referee when she was forced out of bounds. The technical was Clark's eighth of the season, triggering a one-game suspension for Indiana's next game if not rescinded by the league.
“She said I ran into her,” Clark said in a postgame television interview. “I’ve already watched it on the tape, so we’ll let the league decide. But it wasn’t intentional or anything, so I’m hoping it’s getting rescinded,”
Cunningham has frequently come to Clark's defense after physical play by opponents and has become one of the higher-profile players in the league this season. In an ESPN article published last month, she voiced support for barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s sports, which led to small protests and rallies outside Fever games in Seattle and Portland.
In a memo to teams on Friday, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league would have ongoing discussions about the issue of transgender participation in women's basketball.
Marsh said that the controversy surrounding Cunningham didn't add anything extra to the game.
“We didn’t come into this one with any more or less juice than we’ve had in the last four since the All-Star break," he said. "Our mindset is trying to win games.”
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Indiana Fever's Caitlin Clark reacts after being called for a foul during the second half of an WNBA basketball game against the Chicago Sky in Chicago, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Indiana Fever's Sophie Cunningham reacts while talking to the Chicago Sky bench after being fouled during the first half of an WNBA basketball game in Chicago, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Chicago Sky's DiJonai Carrington walks off the court ejected from the game for committing a flagrant foul against Indiana Fever's Sophie Cunningham during the first half of an WNBA basketball game in Chicago, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Indiana Fever's Sophie Cunningham claps as Chicago Sky's DiJonai Carrington is ejected from the game after committing a flagrant foul against her during the first half of an WNBA basketball game in Chicago, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
Chicago Sky's DiJonai Carrington, back, stares down Indiana Fever's Sophie Cunningham (8) after committing a flagrant foul against Cunningham and before she was ejected from the game during the first half of an WNBA basketball game in Chicago, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
