While we’ve all grown accustomed to NFL players saying way more than they should on podcasts. It still doesn’t mean they should.
Heralded Dallas Cowboys rookie and 1st-round pick Caleb Downs showed how things can go sideways on the Downs 2 Business podcast following the Cowboys’ season-opening upset loss to the New York Giants.
The guest on the show, hosted by Downs and his brother, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Josh Downs, was 4-time NFL All-Pro and Super Bowl champion safety Tyrann Mathieu. The topic was NFL coaches who tell players not to pay attention to social media and what’s said about them there.
“Coaches always tell you ‘Don’t read that (expletive),’ but they read it all day, you know what I’m saying?” Mathieu said. “They read that (expletive) all day.”
“I ain’t gonna lie, some of our coaches (on Cowboys) … they be on Twitter more than the players,” Caleb Downs said. “Overly so. So much.”
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Downs 1 of 2 Defensive 1st-Round Picks in 2026
The Cowboys had the NFL’s worst pass defense in 2025 and ranked 30th out of 32 in team defense. That’s why they spent both of their 1st-round picks on defensive players, with Downs at No. 11 overall and UCF edge rusher Malachi Lawrence at No. 23 overall.
Downs had 8 tackles and 1 sack in the loss to the Giants. Lawrence finished with 5 tackles.
“Caleb Downs says Cowboys coaches be on twitter more than the players cool we’ll hear this tweet LOUD AND CLEAR!!” Fox Sports analyst J Tuck wrote on his official X account. “Give him the GREEN DOT or you’ll a defensive assistant in Cleveland next season!”
“In a forgettable debut for the Cowboys’ new-look defense, Caleb Downs was a bright spot,” NFL reporter Ben Arthur wrote on his official X account.
“Cowboys Caleb Downs generated pressure on each of his three pass rushes in Week 1 against the Giants,” Blogging the Boys’ Brandon Loree wrote on his official X account. “It’s the first time a Dallas defensive back has generated at least three pressures in a game since Donovan Wilson in Week 3, 2022. The rookie can be a movable piece for Christian Parker’s defense.”
Parker’s Defensive Coordinator Debut Goes Poorly
Parker, the youngest defensive coordinator in franchise history at 34, came to the Cowboys after spending 2 seasons as the defensive pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach for the Philadelphia Eagles — that included a Super Bowl win following the 2024 season.
His debut as a defensive coordinator did not go well.
“Since Week 1 of the 2024 season, the Cowboys have given up 28.8 PPGs,” Locked on Cowboys co-host Marcus Mosher wrote on his official X account. “And that is with three different defensive coordinators (Mike Zimmer, Matt Eberflus, Christian Parker). Maybe it’s as much a front-office problem as a DC problem.”
“Based on EPA/drive, the Cowboys had the worst defensive performance by any team in Week 1,” The Ringer’s Sheil Kapadia wrote on X. “It was worse than all but one of their defensive games last year. Among 574 games since the start of last season, it ranked 571st. 7 possessions: 4 TDs, 1 punt, 1 fumble, ran clock out.”
Cowboys Rookie Caleb Downs Calls Out Coaches Over Social Media Use