Cowboys’ Tyler Biadasz praises Dak Prescott’s work ethic, relives brutal playoff loss

You’d think Tyler Biadasz would never want to see it again.

As the 17-game starter at center for the Dallas Cowboys last season, it was the 24-year-old Wisconsin native who started (nearly) every single offensive play for the team.

But the season also ended in ignominious fashion with his own hand on the dead ball, the game clock hitting all zeroes before he could get off a last-chance snap to quarterback Dak Prescott in January’s wild card loss to San Francisco.

There was plenty of blame to go around in the immediate aftermath. Many questioned the play call, given the situation. Some faulted Prescott for not going to the turf sooner. Umpire Ramon George took heat for being late to the line, bumping into Prescott and Biadasz, and needlessly resetting the ball. Referee Alex Kemp caught flak for not making things right in the moment. Biadasz himself was a target of criticism for trying to set the ball himself and adding to the confusion.

Five-plus months after the fact, it’s still a hot-button topic for Cowboys fans, players, and coaches alike.

The man who was literally at the center of it all confirms that the designed quarterback run was a situation the entire offense was well prepared for.

“We actually repped this out in practice a lot,” he told NFL Network’s Good Morning Football during an appearance this week. “It’s one of those plays where you have that split-second decision. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. But the play call wasn’t anything new to us. It was more, ‘If the ref has a better angle,’ or, ‘If it’s not on the hash versus the middle,’ or whatever the case may be. And that’s football. Football comes down to the inches of the game.”

Biadasz has since adopted the party line within the Cowboys facility that- no matter how the final seconds went down- the team should never have been in that do-or-die position to begin with.

“We just have to be better throughout the whole game,” he said. “As a whole team, we’ve got to be more consistent through the whole game.”

That’s the mindset of Biadasz and the Cowboys players now, a month before training camp.

The team let veteran tackle La’el Collins leave in free agency. All-Pros Zack Martin and Tyron Smith remain, but they’re now outnumbered by youngsters who’ll make up three-fifths of the offensive line.

Biadasz says the size, the strength, and the skills are there. What they need is time together.

“It comes down to offseason training,” the former fourth-round draft pick explained. “We have guys- Terence Steele, Connor McGovern, our newest draft pick Tyler Smith- we have guys that can come in, and I think the main thing is just building chemistry.”

For Biadasz, it’s not just chemistry between himself and his linemates. When you play center, there has to be a strong connection with your quarterback, too.

This offseason, the Cowboys have brought in two highly-touted undrafted free agent centers, Alec Lindstrom and James Empey. They’ll be fighting for reps and trying to develop that connection with Prescott, looking to perhaps unthrone Biadasz- who has been solid, though not overwhelming- from his starting role.

Biadasz says he and Prescott have that chemistry, both on and off the field. But much of it came while Prescott was sidelined and out of uniform.

The award-winning Wisconsin center was making just his third NFL start on October 11, 2020. That was the day another Prescott run ended catastrophically for the quarterback.

If Biadasz hadn’t been impressed enough with Prescott before his compound ankle fracture and dislocation, what he saw from his signal-caller in the days, weeks, and months that followed taught him a lasting lesson.

“The resilience that I saw coming into the league, after having a couple of games with him in 2020, and then his rehab after his injury,” Biadasz recalled. “By far, I’ve never seen a work ethic like that. And his mentality coming in- after a gruesome injury, honestly; being on the field on watching it live- he came in every single day, just working. He would literally be at the facility, not kidding, honestly, like that whole day- eight hours, go home, do more rehab, come back, throw, everything- that whole offseason.”

That may have influenced Biadasz as to how to about his own offseason prep. The current break isn’t necessarily down time, as he readies himself to report to Oxnard and battle to keep his job.

So willfully turning a blind eye to any bit of tutoring isn’t an option. Even if that means catching a replay of the painful playoff loss when it happens to come on TV and using the impromptu film study as an opportunity to learn.

“When those games pop on, honestly, you want to watch them,” Biadasz admitted. “You want to have that mentality; you’re not necessarily back in it right there, but you’re learning lessons throughout, even watching the game again and again and again. To just keep building your mental craft.”

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Story originally appeared on Cowboys Wire