NOW DALLAS COWBOYS ‘That one hurts.’ Why did a Cowboys coach get emotional at Tuesday’s press conference? BY NICK HARRIS UPDATED NOVEMBER 19, 2024 9:54 PM| 1 FRISCO In the second quarter of the Cowboys’ 34-10 loss to the Texans on Monday night, third-year safety Markquese Bell was taken to the locker room after a collision on a kickoff coverage play. He was later ruled out with a shoulder injury. Further tests on Tuesday revealed that he dislocated his shoulder and the team is expecting him to be sidelined for the remainder of the season. After filling in at linebacker in 2023 and excelling in a foreign role compared to his usual safety position, Bell has been mostly relegated to special teams work in 2024 with veterans in front of him at safety. He took on the role of being the leader of the special teams unit instead and has thrived under special teams coordinator John Fassel. When asked about the impact of the injury on his unit, Fassel was emotional with reporters in describing the loss of Bell. “Yeah, that one hurts,” Fassel said while fighting back tears. “He’s played as good of special teams ball through 10 games as I can remember. He got hurt doing what he does best, just flying in there and diving. He’s gonna be OK, but gosh.” Beginning 16 years ago as a coordinator with the St. Louis Rams, Fassel began implementing a “TALLY” system for his special teams unit. It gives his special teamers a point for every tackle, assist and lockdown while negating a point for every letdown. Bell was leading the TALLY by a significant margin entering week 11 and was on pace to beat out Fassel’s all-time record set by Cody Davis in St. Louis. “I spend so much time with these guys in meetings and on the practice field and on the game field,” Fassel said. “The emotions of going undrafted and wanting more and accepting his role and thriving in his role. I’m hurting for him, because he was on a mission. He was as good as we’ve had in a while.” Despite two glaring mistakes on failed fake punts so far this season, Fassel gave credit to his unit for being one of the best he’s had in his illustrious career as a coordinator. Along with being an instrumental figure in the NFL adopting the new kickoff rule for 2024, Fassel has also been a key contributor to successful careers such as punter Johnny Hekker and current Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey, among many others. “You develop such a tight relationship with these guys,” he said. “These young men are very human and they want so much out of their career and I want it for them. You don’t want to start staring down the pipe of, ‘How long do I get to coach these guys for?’ They’re special humans, what they do on a daily basis is very unique.” “It’s a great room. They fight. They just want to compete
