Be like Barry Bonds? Why Dallas Cowboys coach Jon Kitna is telling Dak Prescott just that

Jori Epstein | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption What does Dak Prescott and Jerry Jones have to say about the Cowboys' slow starts? USA TODAY Sports' Lorenzo Reyes breaks down how the Cowboys address their slow starts to games.

FRISCO, Texas — Jon Kitna’s directive to Dak Prescott seems paradoxical.

The Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks coach implores Prescott to take risks on split-second decisions, to play with confidence and to open up the passing game for an offense averaging a league-high 436.8 total yards per game. But Kitna also reminds his quarterback: Every decision you make affects each of your teammates and coaches.

“So if you’re going to make that decision,” Kitna adds, “you better be right.”

It’s a balance Prescott failed to strike on the first play of the Cowboys’ "Monday Night Football" win against the New York Giants. He faked a handoff right to running back Ezekiel Elliott before eyeing receiver Michael Gallup on a quick slant left. Prescott misjudged the intentions of Giants safety Antoine Bethea, rushing squarely in the line of fire. Bethea smothered the throw. An interception on the Cowboys’ first play of the game. A violation of the approach Kitna preaches to his quarterbacks room.

The Barry Bonds mindset, he calls it.

“You want to have a Barry Bonds mindset, which is he broke the record for home runs in a season,” Kitna said of the seven-time National League MVP, who set an MLB high with 73 home runs in 2001. “He also broke the records for walks in a season. That meant they weren’t throwing him pitches to hit. But when he hit, he hit it out of the park.

“That’s what we want to have as a quarterback: the discipline to say, ‘That’s not my pitch. Let’s check it down.’ But when it presents itself: Let’s let it rip.”

When Prescott achieves that balance, he’s at his best.

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Waiting on the home run

The Cowboys offense aims to dominate defenses at the line of scrimmage, then keep them guessing which of many talented pieces will threaten. Will the run threat be Elliott, Prescott or rookie Tony Pollard, all of whom are averaging at least 4.7 yards per attempt? Will Amari Cooper juke a defensive back for the touchdown, or Michael Gallup flash the athleticism that fueled his acrobatic touchdown reception on Monday?

Against the Giants, Prescott found Gallup and Cooper on 15- and 45-yard touchdown passes, and tight end Blake Jarwin on a 42-yard catch-and-run. All plays contributing to the Cowboys averaging a league-high 8.42 yards per pass play. All plays made possible when Prescott, in Kitna’s words, let it rip.

And yet, as Prescott posts a career-best 297.5 passing yards per game, he’s also on pace for a career-high in interceptions. His eight in eight games matches his total in 16 games last season. He’s already doubled his rookie mark. So Prescott reminds himself that sometimes he needs “heat checks,” he says, to slow things down.

“I’m going to wait on my home run shot,” Prescott says, “And if they give it to me, take it. If not, keep the chains moving.”

On his first throw against the Giants, Prescott didn’t keep the chains moving. Enter Bethea’s interception, and more than 28 minutes of game time elapsing before the Cowboys managed a touchdown.

But on the Cowboys’ first offensive play against the Philadelphia Eagles, their prior game, Prescott managed to eschew the home run for a proverbial walk. A fumble recovery had given Dallas its first drive of the year starting in opponent territory. Prescott’s passing lanes weren’t clear. His first, second, third and fourth reads became untenable. So he tossed a shovel pass to Elliott.

“Me and Zeke have a lot of conversations when we’re back there,” Prescott said. “‘Hey, check this guy for me.’ Scan there. Protect there. Or, ‘Hey, just get out — I may need you.’”

Elliott took the flip seven yards. Five plays later, the Cowboys scored the only first-quarter touchdown they’ve managed in their last five games. The message: With players like Elliott and tight end Jason Witten around, don’t be afraid to check it down. Security blankets?

“We’ve got two of them, best in the business,” offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said. “You want to throw it outside. And if not, those guys will probably find a nice soft spot inside.”

'How can I win?'

No doubt, the run game will continue to be a must for the Cowboys with the Minnesota Vikings, New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears looming in the next month. Elliott has hit a stride, rushing for more than 100 yards in each of the Cowboys’ last three games.

Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott looks at defense like a shield.



Zeke: “You hit em a couple of times, you’re going to dent the shield. You’re going to make it splinter. If you keep hitting...eventually it’s going to break."



(📹: @thecheckdown)pic.twitter.com/xKwr3DYm8D — Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) October 21, 2019

But as the league’s best passing-yards-per-play offense readies for four top-10 defenses in the category, Prescott will need to do more than just outwit defenders to the big-time gains Dallas has completed through the first half of the season. He’ll need to remember that Elliott and Witten each have caught at least 80% of the 30-plus targets he’s thrown their way. To remember that Elliott caught 77 passes for 567 yards and three touchdowns last season, even as he led the league with 95.6 rushing yards per game.

Prescott will need to remember the Barry Bonds mindset.

“Every situation that presents itself, [he’s] problem-solving, figuring out, ‘How can I win that situation?’ So that can lend itself to a little more aggressiveness,” Kitna said. “Then, as you mature, you figure out winning that down might be [the checkdown to] Zeke. That might win the down right there–by not having the, I call them, disasters.

“Playing quarterback you’re never going to be 100 percent on the decisions you make. But to be where he’s at?

“He’s doing a tremendous job.”

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein.

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