Cowboys at Bears Means Dallas Must 'Self-Reflect,' Says Michael Bennett

Cowboys Defensive Lineman Michael Bennett Has A Resume That Demands His Teammates Listen. Are They Ready to Do So - and To 'Self-Reflect' - As They Travel Today To Chicago?

FRISCO - Maybe Michael Bennett's words carry additional gravitas because he's the only guy on the Dallas Cowboys roster to have won a Super Bowl. Or maybe he's just voicing the most elementary stuff about how football works.

"I think everyone just wants to win,” the Pro Bowl defensive lineman said on the eve of the 6-6 Cowboys trip to Chicago. “When you want to win, there’s always going to be some chippiness.”

"Chippy'' is the word Ezekiel Elliott used to describe this week's Cowboys practices. "Frustrated'' is the other keyword of the week following a loss to Buffalo that marked a second straight defeat, a third in four outings and a sixth in the last nine games.

The Jones ownership family obviously doesn't believe Dallas' relative struggles ("relative'' because the Cowboys are, after all, in first place in the NFC East) are about a talent deficit. And Bennett says it's not about work ethic.

“I think everybody respects the amount of work each player puts in, the coaches put in,” Bennett said. “But we want great output. And the output is winning. That’s the most important thing and we’re trying to figure out what’s the best way of doing that.”

Of course, if it's not "talent'' and if it's not "effort,'' the fall-guy search starts pointing to Jason Garrett and the coaching staff. And owner Jerry Jones has been a leader in that pointing. Players in this locker room, though, seem willing to blame themselves for the failures ... and in Bennett's case, anyway, seem willing to verbally push Dallas in the right direction. Following Thursday’s loss to Buffalo, he was a squealing voice of passion in the closed-door locker room. His message this week is about "looking in the mirror.''

“Everybody enjoys winning, but losing makes you look into the mirror more and self-reflect on things you got to fix,” Bennett said. “Sometimes, when you win you can overlook things but when you lose, the eye of the camera finds everything that’s wrong. So I think sometimes you’ve got to self-reflect and we’re at the moment where we’ve got to self-reflect.''