In preparation for their Week 5 clash against the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer acknowledged that former 49ers quarterback Trey Lance has been offering some insider knowledge. Lance, who spent two seasons with the Niners, is well-versed in their system.
The emergence of Brock Purdy made Lance expendable, leading to San Francisco trading the former No. 3 overall pick to Dallas ahead of the regular season.
"Trey knows a little bit about what they're doing," Schottenheimer said. "... We'll definitely talk to Trey. He knows a lot of the pieces going against them in practice, but it doesn't always help, as we learned yesterday."
The Cowboys acknowledge that insider information doesn't always provide a significant advantage, with the assistant coach referring to former Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott being unable to provide the New England Patriots sufficient intel to avoid their 38-3 loss this past weekend.
San Francisco's general manager, John Lynch, doesn't sound too concerned about what Lance may leak to Cowboys coaches.
"There is information you can share," Lynch said Friday morning on KNBR's "Murph and Mac" show. "My experience with that as a player is it tends to screw you up more than it does help you. I mean, this isn't the Houston Astros over there banging a drum for fastballs. He can't do that over there. And now, everything's through the headset.
"I think the closest thing to it, back in the day, when coordinators actually used to signal things in, you could glean some things, and people did. ... There was more you could glean, but I do know that playing the quarterback position, he's probably been more privy to a lot of the scheme thoughts and all that, but I don't think there's a whole lot."
The 49ers openly acknowledged that defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, having spent three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, is providing some intel on how the defensive line should attack the Cowboys' offensive front.
"He's definitely talked about the things that he was able to do, they were able to do in the past, going against those guys twice a year," defensive coordinator Steve Wilks said on Thursday. ... So yes, we have got some tidbits from him, and hopefully, they come into play for us on Sunday."
Additionally, the 49ers have cornerback Anthony Brown, a longtime Cowboys player, on their roster. Brown could potentially provide insights on defending against the pass.
"So, do we try to glean? Sure, yes, some questions, but that's more about individual personnel than scheme," Lynch said of Brown's potential assistance. "If you get caught up in trying to guess things in scheme, maybe a code word here or there that can help you, but it's not something we're worried about, and I bet something that they haven't spent too much time focusing on."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.
