Make no mistake, the Dallas Cowboys are still pretty high on backup running back Lance Dunbar.
But after watching Dunbar fumble the ball on two of his last three touches, head coach Jason Garrett admits that the North Texas product will have to earn the team’s trust once again.
Back on August 17, Dunbar took a pass 43 yards before being tackled, fumbling and injuring his foot all in one fell swoop. He missed the rest of the preseason and the opener against the Giants, and returned last week against the Chiefs. His first touch back, Dunbar took a 12-yard run to the Kansas City five. His next touch, though, he coughed it up after a four-yard pass from Tony Romo
“Yeah, he’s a good football player, and he just needs to understand the importance of ball security, and it’s certainly something we’ve preached as much as anything here,” Garrett said, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Sometimes when a young player goes into a game, he doesn’t really fully understand how good the opponents are at getting the ball away. He’s found that out, like you said, a couple times in his last couple of carries. He did make a real nice run in the red zone for us, [and then he] ran a good route, recognizing their pressure for a completion, but the ball came out.
“Guys like that, they just need to simply understand it more, how valuable the ball is. They need to drill it, and they need to be able to take it to the game. He’s a good football player. We like him a lot. He goes about it the right way. We’ll give him more chances, but again he has to continue to earn that trust to give him those opportunities.”
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