Through five games of the 2026 season, Von Miller has not made the impact the Dallas Cowboys were hoping he would when they signed him during the offseason.
Miller has been a great teammate as he promised, but Dallas also needs him to make an impact in the pass-rush. Unfortunately, the Cowboys are still waiting for that impact, as Miller has yet to get a sack and only has six pressures, per Pro Football Focus.
Miller addressed his slow start during the latest episode of his "Free Range w/ Von Miller" podcast and made no excuses for failing to record a sack.
"It's time for me to get rolling, too," Miller said. "I would like to point the finger at myself. If I get two plays, I need to find a way to make an impact on those two plays. If I get 10 (plays), I definitely should be able to have an impact on 10 plays.
"And don't let me get 15 and 20 plays. I have to be able to do something. And this Sunday, I'm just pointing the finger at myself. I have to make an impact with the type of burn that I'm able to get."
Playing at Lambeau Field against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday might be a good omen for Miller, who tallied his first Washington Commanders sack there last season.
Part of the problem
Miller's lack of an impact has become even more glaring when you consider just how poorly Dallas' pass-rush has performed overall.
When the Cowboys do actually get pressure, the defense has not been able to finish them off. PFF has Dallas with 76 pressures this season, yet the Cowboys have just five sacks, which ranks as the third-fewest in the NFL.
If this defense is ever going to improve, that needs to change. The Cowboys just cannot afford to miss opportunities to sack the quarterback, especially with how bad the coverage has been.
Von Miller's playing time in danger?
Miller has only played a total of 72 snaps this season, which amounts to 22% of the plays on defense.
After playing 15.9% of the snaps in Week 1, Miller saw an uptick to 29.6% in Week 2, and then he was on the field for 25% and 25.5% the next two games before seeing a season-low 13.9% of snaps during the loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Now, the Cowboys are looking to make changes to the defense and get rookie Malachi Lawrence more run after he notched his first career sack in Week 5.
"He's played very well," head coach Brian Schottenheimer said of Lawrence earlier this week. "I think he's starting to show the flash and the acceleration and the ability to rush the passer that we knew we were getting when we drafted him."
"I think he had a very good game against Tampa Bay, and you'll see him get more opportunities," Schottenheimer added.
One has to wonder if Lawrence's increased run will come at the expense of Miller.
We'll know more on Sunday, when the Cowboys meet the Packers at Lambeau Field.
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