The Dallas Cowboys’ defense has drawn plenty of criticism this season, and a players-only meeting added to the noise. Brian Schottenheimer is not buying the idea that the gathering is a bad sign.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin made waves earlier this week when he weighed in on the Cowboys’ defensive meeting on the New Heights podcast. Tomlin’s verdict on teams that hold players-only meetings was blunt.

“I think you’re dead,” Tomlin said.

Schottenheimer offered a different view when asked about it on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, according to Jon Machota of The Athletic.

“I think they’re very, very different. I’ve been around the league a long time. I have great respect for Mike. It depends on the type of meeting,” Schottenheimer said. “If you go into a meeting and the players-only meeting is a b**** session, I don’t think that that’s a good thing. Matter of fact, I know it’s not a good thing.”

The Cowboys head coach pointed to the leadership behind this particular meeting as the difference.

“But when you’ve got leaders like Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark and guys like that that are driving the meeting with a purpose and they’re talking about the things they talked about in that meeting, I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” Schottenheimer said. “I think it shows ownership on their part.”

“Their pride is real. They want to be great. They want to win,” Schottenheimer said. “I certainly wasn’t in the meeting, but I’ve talked to the guys that kind of led it, and it sounds like it was a very, very productive meeting with solution-oriented conversations.”

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The meeting followed a 24-16 home loss to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers that dropped Dallas to 2-3. The defense has been a major problem, allowing 395.4 yards per game, the second-most in the NFL.

Williams has taken the blame publicly, saying he takes “full accountability and full responsibility for the way this defense is going at the moment.” He declined to share details about what was said, telling reporters he was going to keep that to himself.

Dallas will get a chance to show whether the meeting made a difference on Sunday night, when the Cowboys visit the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.