Sitting at 3-3 on the year, the Dallas Cowboys certainly have more doubters than they did at the start of the season. But heading into a Week 9 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers, star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is eager to prove all of them wrong, including legendary Cowboys quarterback turned ESPN NFL analyst Troy Aikman.
After the Cowboys’ Week 6 blowout loss to the Detroit Lions, Aikman made it a point to call out the team’s wide receiver corps as a whole, including referencing Lamb by name in his critique of the unit’s route running ability thus far this season.
“I think the routes are terrible,” Aikman said via Jon Machota, who covers the Cowboys for The Athletic. “I think they run terrible routes. And I’ve thought that beyond this year. I think CeeDee (Lamb) has got to improve in his route running. As a quarterback, if you’re not certain where guys are going to be consistently, it’s hard to play the position. “That’s what I see. I see guys lazy coming off the line of scrimmage. Sometimes they run, usually if they do, it’s because they’re anticipating they’re going to get the football on that play, but if they’re not, they don’t. And it all ties together. I’m not impressed with that part of it.”
If you look solely at the stat sheet, Lamb appears to be in the midst of a semi-productive year for his standards, averaging 77.8 receiving yards per game.
But clearly, Aikman believes that Lamb can do a better job of being consistent on every play instead of just when he thinks he is getting the ball.
During a recent conversation with NBC’s Jason Garrett ahead of their Sunday Night Football matchup with the 49ers, Lamb addressed Aikman’s comments, saying that he views it as “constructive criticism” he will use as a “building block” in practice.
“Me as a leader, I obviously take it in,” said Lamb. “You gotta work. I use it as a building block. If you say those out routes are lazy, things of that sort, let’s go out here every week. And I’m gonna show you that my routes… You know? Personally, I take that as constructive criticism. You can’t really take everything personal in this realm of work that we do.
“Especially things that we can control. So if we can control it, let’s go out here, work at it, and continue to get better. For me, I’ll go work, I’m a hard worker. So anything that you say that I’m not doing, I’m gonna show you that I am doing.”
It’s an incredibly mature response from Lamb considering he is widely regarded by most as one of the best players at his position.
He could have just as easily condemned Aikman for his opinion. But instead, he is putting it on himself to get better game in and game out, which is likely why he has gotten to this point in his career in the first place.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.