CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There have been times over the past couple of months that the pain in CeeDee Lamb‘s right shoulder became unbearable.
The initial sprain of the AC joint happened Nov. 3 against the Atlanta Falcons. He has been limited in practices since but was always available. Last week, he said that although the sprain could worsen with more hits, he is not prepared to have offseason surgery.
In the second quarter of Sunday’s 30-14 win against the Carolina Panthers, Lamb’s former teammate, safety Xavier Woods, launched into Lamb on a 6-yard catch over the middle, drawing an unnecessary roughness penalty.
“I feel like it’s a well-known thing that my shoulder’s hurting,” Lamb said, “so I feel like these guys are definitely trying to put their best hit on me.”
Lamb got up and flexed, as if nothing was wrong.
He finished with nine catches for 116 yards and a touchdown. The nine catches were the third most he has had this season, the 116 yards were the second most. He scored the Cowboys’ first touchdown on a 14-yard throw from Cooper Rush.
In the first half, he had eight catches for 105 yards. It was the fourth time in his career he has had at least 100 receiving yards and a touchdown in a half. Only Dez Bryant (five) has more with the Cowboys since 2000.
“He is just a tough, talented, dynamic football player,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “Can’t find enough ways to get him the ball. The beauty of CeeDee is you can line him up in the backfield and you can hand it to him because he’s a natural runner with the football too. I go back to his rookie year, he was our punt returner. So, [he] plays every position in the receiver realm and we just got to continue to find ways to get him the ball.”
Lamb is the Cowboys’ best offensive threat, which opposing defenses know, but he still gets open. On the touchdown drive, he worked the slot and was matched up against safety Jordan Fuller, twisting him around twice, including the touchdown catch. McCarthy designed a few tunnel screens to get Lamb the ball at the line of scrimmage.
“I mean he’s unbelievable,” Rush said. “A couple of those throws he takes for 20 yards — the screen here, the screen there, the adjustment he makes on the touchdown throw. It’s elite-level instincts that a lot of guys don’t have that level. He’s pretty easy to throw to.”
In the second quarter, Lamb went over 1,000 receiving yards for the season, becoming the first Cowboy to do so in four of his first five seasons. Only Michael Irvin has more 1,000-yard seasons as a Cowboy with seven. Lamb tied tight end Jason Witten for second with his fourth.
He also has the second-most receptions (489) by an NFL player in his first five seasons, trailing only Michael Thomas, who had 510 with the New Orleans Saints.
“It means a lot, means all the hard work is paying off,” Lamb said. “Mad consistent with my work and the approach towards every year, and it’s good to see that it shows up. And obviously I’m grateful for it, grateful for that opportunity, grateful for being in this organization and doing what I’m doing. Looking forward to many more of those.”
The Cowboys made Lamb the second-highest-paid receiver in the NFL over the summer with a deal that averages $34 million. Despite the shoulder pain, he plays on.
“He’s a quarterback’s best friend,” McCarthy said. “He’s easy to throw the ball to. He has got great body control. If he gets even, he’s leaving the DB. That’s what you look for in your No. 1 receiver. He has everything you ever wanted and more.”
When Brandin Cooks missed seven games with a knee injury, Lamb felt more responsibility within the receiver room. With quarterback Dak Prescott suffering a season-ending injury, he felt almost a duty to do more offensively.
“I always had that mentality and, obviously offensively, the guys are looking for me as a spark,” Lamb said. “So with that, I’m going to continue to do that. And I look at myself as a spark as well. I feel like I can personally score from anywhere on the field no matter how deep. So with that being said, I want to be a threat every time I touch it.”
