Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb didn’t play in Saturday’s game against the Rams, but he did draw a penalty.
Lamb stepped onto the white paint on the sideline while prematurely celebrating a deep pass from quarterback Joe Milton to wide receiver Jonathan Mingo and got run into by side judge Anthony Jeffries as he followed the play. The pass wound up being incomplete, but there was a defensive pass interference flag that would have given Dallas 51 yards if not for an unsportsmanlike conduct foul on Lamb.
Referee Alex Moore told pool reporter Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times that it is an “automatic foul” when there’s contact between an official and someone on the white line.
“It’s more of a rare situation,” Moore said. “Normally we don’t have anybody standing that deep into the restricted area, or that type of forceful contact. So, it is a rare occurrence, but it does happen from time to time.”
It was one of 11 Cowboys penalties on the night and head coach Brian Schottenheimer said everyone has to be more disciplined in the future.
“We have to be better than that,” Schottenheimer said, via the team’s website. “CeeDee knows better, we know better, but the discipline on our part, we’re fine with the combative penalties. But we don’t line up onsides, they warned us a couple times, we have to do a better job of coaching and playing.”
The Cowboys return to action next Saturday and we’ll see if Lamb gets a chance to impact the game from the field in that one.
