Cowboys' Joe Milton claps back at critics of his throwing style, reveals area of improvement

FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer has likened backup quarterback Joe Milton's arm strength and throw velocity to Pro Football Hall of Famer Brett Favre's, his starting quarterback in 2008 when he was the offensive coordinator of the New York Jets. 

That's certainly high praise, but Favre was also notorious for sometimes rifling the football too hard on shorter and intermediate throws. Him doing so occasionally led to Green Bay Packers wide receivers breaking their fingers when the weather got colder in northern Wisconsin. The last time Milton broke a teammate's finger throwing the football was when he was in high school, but he bristles at the notion that he throws too hard to his teammates in the NFL. Yes, he's seen the videos and memes about it on social media. Milton hasn't had Twitter for years, but some of his close friends have sent them to him in a group chat on Instagram. 

"Let's clear the air, I don't understand why people say I throw the ball so hard," Milton said after Dallas' final training camp practice Thursday night. "I'm literally not throwing the ball hard. It just comes off my hand like that. I was born and blessed that way. If you think I'm throwing the ball hard, then you shouldn't be in the NFL getting paid. There's some times where it's like 'oh, it's not necessary.' There's like one or two a game, but other than that man, I'm not throwing the ball hard, man. It just comes off my hand like that. I was born and blessed that way, so I appreciate God."  

Needing to throw with better touch is a critique Milton is open to hearing, and the way in which Milton could improve in that area, with his footwork, is a solution both he and Schottenheimer are aligned on. 

"There's a way you do it with your release, the way you can change the release and the tempo of the grip and things like that," Schottenheimer said on Monday when asked about improving a quarterback's touch. ... "Looking back at the film, some of his missed throws were a little bit more of his footwork got a little sloppy, and so we're on him about that. ... I'm a big ground up guy. Everything that you do fundamentally, it starts from the ground up. ... There were a few times where his footwork was off a little bit. He was a little bit ahead of the route, so he was kind of waiting. Then, he felt late, so then he wanted to drive it in there."

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The offense former Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy installed in his final years in Dallas, and the offense Schottenheimer is building in his first year in the head coach's chair both have the passing game routes synched to their quarterback's footwork. Milton knows that, and he said he's specifically working on having a better base with his footwork in the pocket by not letting his feet get too close to each other.   

"Yeah, I think it's very important, especially for this offense," Milton said. "It helps you get through [pass] concepts smoothly. I feel like your feet tell you what your eyes are seeing, so if I clean up my feet, I think my eyes will be better. I will put myself in better situations." 

Passing his final preseason test

Milton graded himself in between D and a D- for performance in Dallas' two preseason defeats at the Los Angeles Rams and at home against the Baltimore Ravens. Both games included slow starts for the Cowboys' offense -- specifically in the first quarter of both games in which it was a struggle to simply move the chains and earn first downs. So what's it going to take for Milton to break out of his erratic spell on Friday night in Dallas' preseason finale against the Atlanta Falcons to earn a B or even an A?

"Same thing you do in school, man. Keep working hard, keep studying, keep coaching the day the same way," Milton said. ... "Rome wasn't built in one day, so I feel like no matter what I do... just keep chipping away and just keep being you man."

He did reveal that he is going to treat the last game of the NFL's 2025 exhibition season like a regular season game following two weeks of a film to digest and clearly observing the need for footwork and eye discipline tweaks. 

"This week is just a little bit different because I'm treating it like a real season game," Milton said. "As far as from the other two previous games, it wasn't too much into it. It was kind of just treating like a preseason [game]. ... I wouldn't say it's a change up. Going back and watching my games from the previous two games and just seeing what I need to get better at. Understanding what the coaches want and what they're telling me I need to get better at. Just being critical of myself."

* Includes opening drive safety

Some online Cowboys fans have been pounding the table for six-year veteran backup quarterback Will Grier to start the final preseason game against the Falcons instead of Milton in order to get a better feel for the team's wide receivers. However, Grier has had two separate stints in Dallas (2021-2023 and 2024-present) while the Cowboys are still learning what they have in the rocket-armed, second-season quarterback. 

"Because Joe Milton is a guy we want to find out more about," Schottenheimer said on Monday when asked why Milton is starting. ... "The guy I feel like we don't have as much information on is Joe Milton. I feel like we have more information on Will. ... I'm learning Joe. I'm learning how you would call a game with Joe as your quarterback. ... He hasn't played a lot of football."

Schottenheimer saying Milton hasn't played a lot of football sounds like a cliche, but it's the truth: he's only played in 15 games (14 at Tennessee from 2022-2023 and 1 with the New England Patriots in 2024) across his last three seasons of football, college or pro. Come Friday against the Falcons, the Cowboys will have another key data point to cap their 2025 offseason evaluation of the rocket-armed Milton, which is an opportunity both the team and the quarterback relish. 

"I feel great, get another opportunity to go out there with the guys, keep learning those guys," Milton said. "Obviously that's what practice is for. Keep chipping away, just trying to get 2% better, work my way up to 3% and just keep chipping away."