LAS VEGAS — Trey Lance isn’t entirely happy with his performance for the Dallas Cowboys against the Las Vegas Raiders in their second preseason game. It’s a testament to his maturity, considering that while he wasn’t perfect, he was significantly better than he was in his preseason opener against the Los Angeles Rams — on all fronts.

Lance seemed more determined, more confident in his shooting technique and talent, and above all, more relaxed. And that’s no coincidence considering that the fight against the Rams was his first live action in almost 18 months.

“I definitely felt more comfortable when I came out. I just need to get a little bit faster – in the third quarter, for sure,” Lance said after the 27-12 win at Allegiant Stadium. “I missed a few plays there, but I learned a lot from it and it’s fun to compete with these guys.”

He finished the game against the Rams with 151 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions on 15 attempts (98.3 passer rating), then added seven runs for 34 yards and a touchdown on the ground; a victory that followed offensive struggles in Los Angeles.

“Ryan (Flournoy) finished him off,” he said of the pass touchdown just before halftime. “It was like a long handoff. Great job by Ryan. I’m really happy for him to score his first touchdown. … I would have loved to do that (the same play with Jalen Cropper in the end zone) today.”

“It’s a different situation, but like I said, Ryan took him down and made the shot super, super easy for him.”

The former third-place finisher appeared to react more quickly on several of his drives in Las Vegas than he had six days earlier, but Lance doesn’t necessarily see it that way – he doesn’t let the plays he didn’t make haunt him while he revels in the ones he did make.

“I think I definitely missed a few there, especially in the third quarter. Some are still fresh in my mind now,” he explained. “I felt good coming into the game and the guys made a lot of plays today.”

However, it is also true that Lance is growing week to week, and that includes training. He came from arguably his best workout of camp to date and then capitalized on it with one game to go to have his best performance of the preseason.

“I don’t know if there’s anything special,” Lance said of his biggest takeaway from the loss to the Rams. “I just tried to take everything one step at a time, but I definitely felt more comfortable. I think that was a big part of it. I’ll just try to build on that next week. It feels good to win.”

“I love competing with these guys…I’m all in. The guys out there are giving their best on every snap, from the O-line to the receivers. I think we had a good day on offense, defense and special teams.”

The pressure is on for Lance to improve and that’s exactly what he’s doing. But his journey is far from over as he readily admits he needs to build on what happened in Las Vegas. He can’t risk it all at once and rest on his laurels when the Cowboys are judging his every move on the field.

“I feel good,” Lance said. “I’m glad we won. I think that’s the most important thing for me. I’m going to watch the video, learn from it and do the exact same thing next week.”

That’s actually the equation for Lance, and he begins to solve it.