After the Dallas Cowboys' 24-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday Night Football, cameras captured a stadium worker saying "embarrassing" to Dak Prescott as the quarterback walked through the tunnel to the locker room.
Prescott stared down the worker, and when the passer turned around again, the employee said, "He heard me."
"You say that once I look off, huh?" Prescott replied, ending the exchange.
Here’s our angle of a worker — either stadium employee or valet car driver — calling out Dak Prescott and the Cowboys performance, with Dak’s reaction which he said was prompted by the man looking away after saying the criticisms. #dallascowboys #nfl https://t.co/ffznCyahvv
— Adam Rossow (@AdamJRossow) October 9, 2026
"When he said it, I just happened to look at him, and at that point, he looked away. ... And when I turned my head back, he said something else," Prescott said when asked about the confrontation, according to Spectrum News 1's Adam Rossow.
"And so that's the part that - just as a man or as just a person, feel free to speak your mind, just speak it. Don't cower away from the reaction that you're going to get.
"If you're saying it's embarrassing, say it's embarrassing. If you're saying it to me, then say it to me. ... Don't go back on it. So that's all that was, and hate it that it's even being talked about, to be honest with you."
The stadium worker was a third-party contract employee, according to Rossow.
Thursday's defeat to the Buccaneers, who entered the game 0-4, was Dallas' first loss to a winless team in Week 5 or later since 2000, according to TruMedia. Undrafted Tampa Bay rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels made his second career start.
Prescott finished the game completing 24 of 42 passes for 316 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Prescott's production came mostly in the second half, as he completed under 50% of his throws for 114 yards with a 63.3 passer rating through two quarters.
The signal-caller led the Cowboys into Tampa Bay territory with under two minutes remaining while down eight points. He threw a pass to tight end Jake Ferguson that ultimately bounced off his helmet and into the hands of Buccaneers linebacker Alex Anzalone, all but icing the game.
Dallas' defense continued to struggle Thursday night, and it now ranks 30th in EPA/play and 31st in success rate through five games. Since the Cowboys traded star edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers in August of 2025, the team ranks last in yards per play surrendered (6.4) over a 22-game sample.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer said he's willing to make changes over the next week, including to his coaching staff, to help lead the 2-3 Cowboys in the right direction.
"Yeah, I'm going to look at everything," Schottenheimer told reporters postgame, according to team writer Patrik Walker. "I'll spend countless hours trying to figure it out and getting a chance to step back, look at these five games, and see what we need to improve."
Dallas' next game is Sunday Night Football against the Packers on Oct. 18.
