Mailbag: Will October bring improved play?

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

I think what we're seeing is that players need preseason action. The start of the year has been sloppy, although it's across the league. Still, instead of getting work in games that don't count, the growing pains happen in regular season games that cost you. So now that it's October and the Cowboys have four games under their belt, do you think we may finally see what this team can do? – Marco Aspaas/Vancouver, WA

Nick: There's a lot of levels to this question. I'll start with the preseason dilemma. Whether or not they need it or not seems to irrelevant. The risk/reward issue in playing key players in the preseason just doesn't add it up. I used to think it did, but not anymore. Once I saw the starting quarterback - Tony Romo - crunched in a weird hit up in Seattle, breaking his back bones to the point where he missed the first half of the season, I just don't think it's worth it anymore.

Sure, you might get in sync earlier and the communication breakdowns could be fewer. But overall, we're still seeing those in Week 4 of the season. Are you telling me that the starters getting few snaps in a preseason game in early August is going to fix everything. It's not like those guys are getting tested at the highest level during the preseason anyway. It's basic, vanilla offensive plays that would look very different to what they might see in the games.

I'm not saying preseason games are pointless at all. But the thought of losing a key player to injury, just for the sake of shaking off some rust, doesn't make sense. As for the question on October leading to better play ... let's hope so. More than anything, getting some key plays back from the IR lists and from other injuries will help. Plus, the schedule lines up for them to starting winning more games as well - but nothing will be easy. But yet, all winnable.

Patrik: This will sound cliche but it's true: time will tell. There's plenty to look forward to on offense, that's for sure, with Dak Prescott once again playing at an MVP level even without CeeDee Lamb on the field, hinting at what's to come once the All-Pro returns soon after having gotten George Pickens playing at a WR1 level. And then there's the fact that, despite being down two starting offensive linemen, Javonte Williams and the rushing attack continues to tear off chunks of flesh from opposing defenses. My concern is the more glaring one, in that the defense continues to struggle to keep teams from racking up numbers in the air. The run defense has been leaps and bounds beyond what it once was, thanks to Kenny Clark, Osa Odighizuwa and Solomon Thomas, but the edge rush is still not getting home on quarterbacks and it's straining a secondary that is having communication issues.

The silver lining lies in how, eventually, reinforcements will arrive by way of DeMarvion Overshown, Shavon Revel and others, but will they be instant fixes, seeing as they'll all need time to reacclimate to football speed? Sounds more like a November groove to me, defensively, than an October one — so just fight to remain relevant until then, I suppose.