By all measures, the 2024 season from Dallas Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson was a letdown.

Although there was little to no consistency around him on a team that sputtered across the finish line with a 7-10 record, the expectations for Ferguson were much higher going into his third season after a Pro Bowl performance in 2023 that saw him shine as a reliable offensive weapon for quarterback Dak Prescott.

“I definitely wasn’t satisfied with how I played all last year,” Ferguson said during the team’s offseason program. Ferguson suffered a knee sprain in the team’s week one win over the Cleveland Browns that forced him to miss the following week’s game against the New Orleans Saints.

Two months later, he suffered a concussion that forced him to miss two more contests. With a quarterback change in the middle of that stretch after Prescott’s season-ending injury, consistency was never built for the Wisconsin product.

He finished the year with 59 receptions for 494 yards and zero touchdowns, all down from his breakout 2023 campaign.

“My knee hurt, for sure,” Ferguson said. “The concussion was weird. But I’ve said this before, if I’m on the field, I should be able to give it my all. I don’t think I’ve ever played a full season and not scored a touchdown. That was something that I came into this offseason really working on. Just trying to really dial in on those things.” Going into the 2025 season healthy and with his starting quarterback back in the fold, Ferguson said that he’s learned from what went wrong last season. “That’s the game of football, not everything is going to go perfect,” he said. “Personally, I’m putting that in the past and I know now what I have to work on.”

His approach to the offseason after a down year has caught the attention of the coaching staff around him going into training camp in Oxnard, Calif., next month.

“I think last year was a fluke [for Ferguson],” head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “He definitely dealt with some stuff that was hard for him. Jake’s always motivated. Jake is one of those tone setters who just plays the right way.

But the look in his eyes and the way his body looks, in terms of physique, and the way he’s moving has been noticeably different in a good way.”

Going into a contract year, one where he said he’s just “focused on playing football” and letting his agency handle the rest, Ferguson is still viewed as a key piece of the Cowboys offense.

From Prescott and Ferguson connecting for their signature seam route during the team’s mandatory minicamp or the attention he’s gotten from his work ethic this offseason, the confidence still remains high in Ferguson’s role moving forward. “That’s a guy that’s a competitor,” Prescott said.

“He wants to win, has high standards. I know a year like that is only pushing him. I’ve seen it in the way that he’s approaching this offseason and attacking everything, the details, the questions he’s asking. Our relationship is only growing. He’s a talented guy. He’s an enforcer on this offense and we need him.”