CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens were curiously missing from the Dallas Cowboys first offensive series of Monday night's game against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Lamb and Pickens did ultimately play in Monday night's Week 11 matchup in Las Vegas, but their absence from the first drive of the game was a curious one that caught the eye of fans, fantasy owners, and even ESPN itself during the game. As the Cowboys took the ball for their first drive of the night, ESPN's cameras panned to Lamb and Pickens on the sideline with their helmets on. Neither player were on the Cowboys' inactive list ahead of the game, so many began to wonder what was going on.

Not much longer after the first drive, ESPN reporter Lisa Salters spoke on the broadcast and said that their absence was a coach's decision.

As for what brought on that "coach's decision", it seems as if we're going to have to wait until later to find out. However, given New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter was benched just this week for their opening drive for missing a team meeting, it's possible Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer utilized a similar tactic here.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Why did CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens miss Cowboys first drive?

Reporting by Mary Clarke, For The Win / For The Win

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