First Navajo NFL player fires up Dallas Cowboys locker room

Preseason games tend to be inherently forgettable, but what happened for Dallas Cowboys guard Shiyazh Pete during and after his team’s 34-13 win against Arizona will be long remembered after his postgame speech to the team went out on social media.

The Cowboys' win could also be remembered as the moment when Joe Milton III locked up the all-important QB2 battle, while the RB2 battle got some juice injected into it.

More: Shiyazh Pete, a Navajo from New Mexico State, gets his Cowboys shot

Dallas is off to a 2-0 start in the preseason, the first time since 2007 they’ve been there, and they’ve actually looked pretty good for games that don’t really matter. Here is what the Dallas Cowboys are up to.

Pete is having his moment. The Dallas Cowboys’ third-team guard, who began his college career at New Mexico State, entered the Cowboys’ 34-13 win over Arizona for six snaps, which was the entire final touchdown drive.

He was rewarded by a standing ovation from a large contingent of Navajo Nation, who had taken over a section of State Farm Stadium. That caught everyone’s attention and after the game Pete signed many autographs, coach Brian Schottenheimer asked Pete to do the breakdown. This was captured in an Instagram post from the Dallas Cowboys.

”I saw something I’ve never seen before, 25 years in the NFL,” Schottenheimer said to the team. “An entire section cheering for one man.”

That led the entire Cowboys locker room to cheer for Pete, who made a brief speech.

”I am very fortunate to be amongst you and to play on the same field, the same star on our chest,” Pete said. “I’m proud of us, proud of how far we’ve come. This game, fate, brought us here as strangers, but this game, this star, this team, will make us brothers.”

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That brought another round of thunderous cheers and celebrations from the Cowboys and Pete then broke them down.

Pete, the first Navajo to sign an NFL contract, is still a longshot to make the Cowboys, though he certainly improved those odds in Arizona.

Round 2 of the Cowboys' fight to be QB2 behind Dak Prescott went to Joe Milton, who threw two touchdown passes and guided the offense on three long scoring drives after getting the start. Sam Howell was solid in the second half, but Milton clearly was the big winner of the night.

DallasCowboys.com writer Nick Eatman went as far as to declare the battle over.

Eatman writes: “Joe Milton gives you a better dynamic than Sam Howell. And we really haven't seen what Milton does best, and that's run the ball. He really hasn't had to yet during this preseason, but you know he can. Add that to the absolute-perfect dime he dropped to Jonathan Mingo for the touchdown, and now you're looking at a quarterback who can not only step in for your starter if needed, but also provide a unique dimension that should give defenses problems.”

By the numbers, Milton was 9-of-13 for 179 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions while leading the team to 24 points. Howell was 7-10 for 65 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He led the team to 10 points.

Malik Davis, widely considered the fourth running back on the roster a week and a half ago, got the start against Arizona ahead of Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah, and again played well. He had an 8-yard touchdown reception and carried five times for 29 yards. He did fumble a kickoff return, but he recovered it.

Blue, however, had the biggest day, carrying 15 times for 75 yards. Mafah, who now seems the No. 4 back, had one touch and rushed 15 yards on it.

Eatman saw enough from Davis to put him as the RB2 behind Javonte Williams (he sat out the Arizona game with the rest of the starters).

Eatman writes: “What about Jaydon Blue? What about Phil Mafah? Even Israel Abanikanda has been linked to this position. But through it all, it's Malik Davis who continues to outshine the rest.

“Sure, Blue is the fastest of the group, Mafah is the biggest and Abanikanda has the most experience. But the combination of all of them is Davis, who always seems to rise to the challenge.”

CeeDee Lamb will return to the Metroplex with some bad news. According to police reports, his home in Fairview (near the Cowboys facility in Frisco) was burglarized on July 30 and four luxury bags valued at $300,000 were stolen.

Per police records obtained by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the burglar entered Lamb's home through a broken window. A worker doing a renovation job on the property reported the incident the following afternoon.

After committing 13 penalties in the preseason opener at Seattle, Dallas put a priority on cleaning that up and the Cowboys succeeded. Dallas had four penalties for 20 yards against Arizona, while the Cardinals were flagged eight times for 63 yards.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: First Navajo NFL player fires up Dallas Cowboys locker room