DALLAS — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ weekly appointment on the Shan & RJ show on 105.3 The Fan came once again on Tuesday, and with Christmas only a week away, Jones was in a more festive mood with his team earning three wins in their last four contests.
In this week’s installment, the owner talked about the Week 15 win over the Carolina Panthers, Rico Dowdle’s recent success, and offered a preview of the offseason.
Jones’ thoughts on the win
“I’ll start with the defense,” Jones began. “I’m really proud of what [Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer] has done, and executing with the use of our guys.”
The owner went on to also compliment quarterback Cooper Rush and the calls he made to help open up the running game for Dowdle, who recorded a third straight 100-yard game on the ground.
On the coaching staff’s year
“You’re beginning to see with Zimmer, some of the best is still ahead of us,” Jones said. “He’s been really impressive putting that defense together with the attrition we’ve had with availability.
“[Head coach Mike McCarthy], I don’t know how you can not say that his team has shown they can handle adversity. The injury impact and availability of those players, I hate to keep repeating that but it’s so obvious. Yeah, I give them both high grades this year.”
For those who don’t feel like McCarthy is the answer, Jones continues to provide a vote of confidence. Besides the team still playing hard for McCarthy, there’s no justifiable reason to keep him, but it appears as though Jones feels differently.
What has led to the turnaround despite injuries?
“You’ve got to look at the level of competition the days that we played,“ Jones confessed. “Baltimore was playing well when we played them. New Orleans, they’ve stepped back a great deal from the day we played them, but we hit some teams riding high pretty early and we were out of whack I think on both sides of the ball during those games.”
Jones acknowledges that the Cowboys are beating teams that aren’t very good right now. It’s a rarity from Jones, but an actual honest assessment.
Jones on team’s resolve
“I don’t like that we’ve ended up with the record we’ve got,” Jones mourned. “I don’t care what the ebbs and flows of when you’re playing your best, when you have all your players out there. It all gets down to where we are in the standings. It’s not where we want to be, it’s not where we planned to be, how’d you get here? That’s got to be looked at and weighed carefully.
“Now give us two or three more ball games, if we’re sitting here and we’ve won out, knocking on the door and could get in the playoffs, that’s the time when you have the conversation of how you got there.”
Another level headed answer from Jones, who understands that wins and losses are the most important thing, no matter how or when they arrived. It’s the perspective of a GM who knows he’ll have to make some tough decisions in the offseason evaluating how to move forward.
On Dowdle’s arrival
“This came up yesterday, [Dowdle], and his success, we’re blocking it up differently,” said Jones. “Our QB is really helping our runners by helping identify what we’re doing at the line of scrimmage. We’ve also seen what [Dowdle] does best, he hits those soft spots, and he hits them violently.”
Jones added that a combination of things are making the running game go, including the explosion of Dowdle, who has also managed to stay healthy, which hasn’t always been the case with him.
The ground game attack has taken off, but there’s little doubt that the recent competition has helped, as have the positive game scripts allowing the Cowboys to stick with the running game. The offensive line has changed and gotten younger, but the only problem at running back is that Dallas perhaps took too long to feature Dowdle exclusively and that’s hard to argue against given how well Dowdle has played.
Jones on impending free agents
“What goes with leaving is how it fits in your cap, and where you are,” Jones explained as yet more impact players are playing in the final year of their contract. “My point is, welcome to the NFL.”
The owner went on to say that there will be a lot of movement in players, which doesn’t bode well for the Cowboys keeping some of their free agents who have played well this season.
Defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa and cornerback Jourdan Lewis are at the top of that list, each deserving of new deals, but the Cowboys may not be able to keep them. Jones appears ready to blame salary cap space for missing out on talent again.
Jones on the budget
“I’m doing it generically, anybody who is paying a premium price for the quarterback has got some tightness and frugality involved in their salary cap, period. That’s the system.”
Jones acknowledges that other teams have been able to get the Super Bowl doing it that way, but added the Cowboys signed two cornerstones last offseason in CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott, which means they’ll have to be good cap managers going forward.
After a season of discontent about being unable to augment the roster with free agent additions, Jones is setting up for more of the same with continued talk of cap concerns.
Do you think the Cowboys’ coaching staff have earned top marks this year? Share your thoughts with Ben on X (formerly Twitter) @BenGrimaldi.
