FRISCO, Texas – With veteran safety Malik Hooker set to miss a few weeks with a fractured forearm, fellow veteran P.J. Locke will get his first start with the Cowboys on Sunday against the Commanders.

Against the Giants in Week 1, Locke played the second-most snaps at the safety position for Dallas (28) trailing only Jalen Thompson (63). Now, he's set to see more of an uptick in workload.

"You always look forward to starting, for sure…" Locke said. "Going out there and getting the bulk of everything, yeah, this is what you play football for at the end of the day. It's going to be my debut going into the Cowboys' stadium, and I'm excited."

Locke, a Beaumont, Texas native and University of Texas graduate whose family grew up as Cowboys fans, is looking forward to soaking in the moment of starting a game on the home side at AT&T Stadium.

"It means a lot to me, man," Locke said. "I went to Texas, now I'm down here in Dallas. It's almost like a sense of wanting to get everything right. And just having something for people to be excited for. Also, it means a lot for me to get the Cowboys to the Super Bowl. I was one step close to that last year, and I feel like I'm a lot more excited to do that with the Cowboys."

With what's set to be an afternoon that's meaningful to him getting a start for his hometown team, how does Locke balance wanting to "get everything right" without overthinking and being able to play fast?

"I think experience plays a lot in this," Locke said. "The fact that I've been in this defense for the last seven years in a sense, I don't know man. It's just your preparation at the end of the day. I think your preparation just gives you that type of confidence to just go out there and just play fast."

In order to get that point, there is work to do on the defensive side of the ball. The Cowboys allowed 394 yards of offense to the Giants in Dallas' 28-20 Week 1 loss in East Rutherford, which was not the start Locke or his teammates were looking for.

Communication has been the word thrown around as one of the biggest areas the Cowboys defense struggled at last Sunday night. Locke offered a different word.

"You say communication, I just think executing at the end of the day," Locke said. "Everybody being on the same page and having a game plan that allows everybody to play fast. And I'm not saying that CP had a crazy gameplan, it's not that. It's game one, and it just takes time, man. It takes time…"

"First time playing together, like I said that's all excuses, but at the same time, we all got to take accountability for the product we put on the field. As vets, as guys that want to get this program right, you've got to have self-reflection and point the finger at you. So that's the approach we're going to take this week."

Locke is the veteran on the Cowboys defense that has the most experience with defensive coordinator Christian Parker as his coach. The two spent three seasons together from 2021-23 when Locke played for the Broncos and Parker was Denver's defensive backs coach.

While there are no excuses for the way Dallas performed as Locke said, his veteran experience around the league helps him recognize that the meshing together of a unit is one that will always be a process that continues over time.

"Communication, it's an ongoing thing," Locke said. "It doesn't just stop. You just don't get good at it, you've got to keep improving it. And that's something we're going to continue to harp on. Again, we probably wouldn't even be having this conversation if we came out with a W, but I think at the end of the day, it was Week 1, and we've got stuff to continue to get better at."

For Locke, the motivation to find things to get better at comes naturally.

"Just the competitive nature in you, you go out there and you lose, you want to find everything," Locke said. "It's little plays that you probably could've affected in a way. Maybe making a more firmer tackle or something like that, making something 2^nd and 7 versus 2^nd and 4, those types of things, the running back falling forward. All those types of things affect the game that y'all probably don't even see, but you can be self-critical in that aspect of it. So like I said, it all points a finger back at you."

Along with being self-critical, the defense as a whole has to be critical of their performance in order to improve.

"I don't think you grow being comfortable," Locke said. "Even though we took a L, I picture those as lessons at the end of the day. You can always find ways to get better. You don't go out there and play a perfect game. Obviously, like I said, that's not the debut that we wanted, but at the end of the day, we've got another game to play and we've got to go out there and put some good product on film. So hopefully that's this week, and we're going to continue to have that confidence."

So far, Locke has seen Parker and his defensive teammates take the right steps early in the week to be poised for a better showing against the Commanders.

"The response that everybody wanted," Locke said of the defense's response this week. "Everybody looks like they want to get better. You see guys doing extra work even during between team period while the offense is out there on the field, we're doing extra work going over different techniques and coverage calls and stuff. I'd say we're just taking it one play at a time, one week at a time. At the end of the day, that's all we can do."