Mailbag: How do Cowboys move forward?

(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

After the heartbreaking news of teammate Marshawn Kneeland, can the Cowboys players find a way to move forward from this tragic event? – Mark Thompson/St. Louis, MO

Kurt: The only way they can move forward is together. As Jesse Holley talked about on our Hangin' With the 'Boys podcast, many players find sanctuary in that locker room from the daily pressures that bombard them. Being on the field, practicing, playing is where they often feel the most normal. It's their routine, their way of life, their comfort.

Already we've read about how the power and meaning of "team" is helping each individual player overcome this devastating news. Yesterday, an emotional team meeting was held before Solomon Thomas and several of his Cowboys teammates spent time serving at Metrocrest Services, preparing food packages for those in need. It was the start of a way forward. Together.

In the NFL, friends are traded and waived. They are signed away by other teams in free agency or even retire. Regardless, the games keep coming, whether they are wanted or not. But the locker room bond also continues. And in truly tragic losses such as this, to keep moving forward, that brotherhood, that Cowboys family, is needed now more than ever.

Nick: Whatever they do, it won't be easy. Even though the players have different personalties, mindsets and backgrounds, they all play the same game, with the pressures that come with it. So, they're all connected in this brotherhood that most of us would never understand. So just because Marshawn Kneeland was going through something that many of the others were not, it doesn't mean they all can't relate. And that is why they're all probably hurting to the highest degree.

But it's that same brotherhood that makes the pain so prominent that can also help them carry through in moments like this. They have to stick together, not only mentally, but when they get on the field - play like they're really playing for the guy next to them. While it might sound cliche, that's exactly the way football has to be played. There's not a lot of glory in the offensive and defensive linemen, but they pave the way for the others. It's that simple way of football life that we're used to, that can carry on a team in a battles like this. Every practice, every game, every snap ... everything that is done needs to be with a selfless mindset that shows they are all-in for this team.

I don't think that's been happening all the time this year and right now, more than ever, it's that type of mindset that can carry though this team in the toughest of moments, and could be the missing piece to carry them through on the field. We know the talent is there, just as good if not better than the opponents. So it's time to lock in, be professional with the job at hand, and be as focused as they've ever been.