00:00It's time to talk to Dallas Cowboys COO Stephen Jones. Good morning, sir.
00:05Good morning, guys.
00:06Now, given the way in which the game played out, and maybe you think this about every loss,
00:12did this feel like the toughest loss of the season for the team?
00:16Yeah, no question. I mean, I just think we, you know, we played some really good football for
00:21almost three quarters, and could we play better? Sure. Offensively, get the ball in the end zone
00:29more often, but, you know, and then, unfortunately, we, you know, we reverted back and didn't play
00:37well at all down the home stretch, especially on the defensive side of the ball after, you
00:42know, really showing a lot of good things, but, you know, started off there late in the
00:48third quarter, giving up the long run for a touchdown, and then, you know, from that point
00:53forward, we just, you know, didn't play well. We didn't execute. We didn't get our assignments
01:00right, and, you know, it only takes one, you know, on defense, takes one guy not doing his job, and,
01:07you know, bad things can happen, and unfortunately, you know, we just didn't get it done. We're
01:13inconsistent right now, and consequently, we're not winning football games.
01:17You know, I think we can all agree with you on the defensive end of it. On the offensive end,
01:23Shoddy has shown that he can be a skilled offensive play caller, but do you feel like
01:27he has a tendency to maybe be too timid or conservative when the opportunity is there
01:32to really go for the kill? Well, I think those are things that you've got to balance. I mean,
01:38you know, you see it, you see a lot of great clock management, and, you know, I think we're
01:45feeling really good about how the defense was playing, and we were wanting to run clock,
01:49and, you know, there's no question there at the end of the game, we played for a couple of field
01:53goals. You know, at the same time, you know, we did take a chance on one, trying to get a
01:58first down
01:59to put it away, but, you know, I still think we can be a lot better offensively than we were
02:06yesterday. You have to give the Cardinals credit. You know, they're a good defensive football team.
02:12They certainly, we struggled with pressure at times again yesterday in terms of a lot of
02:21pit balls, a lot of pressure, you know, that we didn't handle as well, and then, of course,
02:27you know, we were under center a lot and ran the ball, stuck with running the football,
02:33which I actually, hats off to them for that, but you got to also give the Cardinals credit.
02:38They were able to really, you know, hold our running game to a minimal in spite of the fact
02:45that we kept trying to run the football, which is, you know, I think a really good balance and
02:52ultimately will pay off for us as the season goes. We just got to, we got to be better. We
02:57got to be
02:57better up front. We got to be better running the ball. Yeah, I was thoroughly impressed with
03:02the offensive line against Philadelphia, and then they couldn't create that space for Javante this
03:08week at all. Do you have any idea of like what, why they weren't able to? No, we hadn't had
03:13our
03:13meetings yet. Certainly, we've been looking at the tape a little bit, but, you know, they had a good
03:19game plan. They knew we were going to come in and run the football, and, you know, they had some
03:25good
03:25run blitzes and some good pressure packages that, you know, we really struggled with. We still ended
03:31up scoring 30 points, but a lot of those drives could have been much better and ended in touchdowns,
03:37but we settled for field goals and ultimately ended up not getting the job done. Now, I know you
03:45hear, we hear it a lot. We see it a lot, obviously, but the fan base always calling for everybody.
03:50Everybody, everybody's got to go after a loss like that. After something like that happens,
03:54does somebody have to pay a price? No, I mean, I think that's, you know, I don't think you just
04:00say,
04:01hey, you, you, you know, you, you fire somebody just to send a message. If it's, you know, if it's
04:07something that's there that you need to make a change because it'll make us better in the long
04:13haul, then you certainly have to take a look at that. But, you know, I'm not necessarily, I don't
04:18know where, you know, Jerry can obviously speak for himself on that, but, you know, I'm into making
04:24changes when it gets, when it makes you better. Are you concerned at all that that option wouldn't
04:30even exist, even if y'all did want to make a change? Because there's not really an option in
04:34the Cowboys coaching staff right now to make a change to? You know, I think a lot of teams look
04:41at it that way. I mean, I know we made the change with Wade the one year because we did
04:46have our
04:46Allen Jason who was on the staff and I really thought that he was going to, might be our
04:53next head coach. So it, so it made a lot of sense, but you know, we, I know obviously we
05:00hadn't played well, but there's still a lot of football to be played. We're in a division
05:04that's struggling to some degree and you know, we still have nine games left and or certainly
05:13feel like, you know, there's signs that we can do some things really well at times. And if we can
05:19just get consistency and, and during the game and finish, then good things can happen for this team.
05:27But I know we've got a lot of work. We're certainly not living in a fantasy world that's thinking if
05:32we, you know, we're just unlucky right now, we've got to play better. We've got to play better in all
05:37three phases. And, but at the same time, I think we can do that. Now you just said, obviously meetings
05:44still to come. You got to see a little bit of the film. You watched the game yesterday. Can you
05:48expand just a little bit more on what some of the things are that you think the team has done
05:54well,
05:54even in spurts? Yeah, I think yesterday we were able to stop the run, you know, defensively where I
06:02saw improvement is we were able to really limit their running game early on in the first half and
06:09first drive of the second half. And we were able to limit their run. We actually did a good job
06:14getting pressure through that period of time. I think we had a couple of sacks and, you know,
06:20we held them to three points and very few yards through, you know, basically through almost three
06:27quarters. And, uh, you know, if you can play defensive football like that, then great. But
06:32unfortunately, uh, as we all know, in the fourth quarter, uh, end of the third, uh, fourth quarter,
06:38they put, uh, I think 20 points in the fourth quarter and obviously the seven, you know, the, uh,
06:43finishing touches in overtime. So, uh, the field goal, but, uh, you know, we just didn't finish and,
06:50uh, we've got to learn, uh, you know, as a team to win these foot, you know, to win, to
06:55win football
06:55games to finish. And, uh, and then offensively, I think it, you know, at times we should, you know,
07:02I thought we did a good job of, uh, sticking, uh, to the run and running the football, which opens
07:08up
07:08the passing game, but, uh, uh, certainly didn't have the offensive, uh, you know, the offensive prowess
07:16we had against the Eagles, but at the same time we did, uh, score 30 points. And, uh, so I
07:21think
07:22that's a positive as well. And then, you know, I think on special teams, we're covering the, uh,
07:27you know, covering the kicks as good as anybody. And so, uh, uh, you know, there's some things that
07:32we really are doing well. We just got to be consistent and, you know, do that for 60 minutes.
07:38I definitely understand your point about the defense needing to learn how to finish games.
07:43I think we would all agree with that. Does it surprise you that the offense, even though the
07:48defense struggled, they did get three and out in overtime and it was the offense. They got the
07:53ball back in their hand and they could not finish. I think, uh, obviously that's one of the things you
08:01look to when you say, Hey, we're inconsistent, uh, in all phases and we're not finishing. And,
08:07you know, I, you know, we were talking about it after the game, Jerry and myself, uh, we're visiting
08:13about, you know, how good would you normally feel and, uh, how good did we feel when we were able
08:20to hold them to a three and out and get the ball and need about 30 yards, uh, from our
08:24offense to
08:25get us a field goal to win the game. And unfortunately we didn't get that done. Um, right after the
08:31game,
08:31it looked like, uh, Pickens booked it, uh, right directly to the locker room. Is he upset with how he's
08:37being used? No, I don't think so. I mean, George has some things health wise, uh, you know, that
08:44he's communicating with the offensive staff on when, uh, you know, he's had, uh, some different
08:49things, uh, you know, with his hamstring and some other things that tighten up on him during the game.
08:55It wasn't necessarily that, uh, we were pulling him out of the game. I, yeah, I just didn't, I,
09:00there have been things where it looks like, okay, maybe he's not getting enough targets early in the
09:05game. And I didn't know if he was a little upset about that. Yeah. Those things come and go with
09:10CD from game to game. Each team plays those guys differently. And sometimes, uh, things start out
09:16slow for CD and fast for George and vice versa. And, uh, you know, that was the case a lot
09:21last year.
09:22Uh, uh, George had a lot of opportunities and CD didn't have as many. And this year feels like CD's
09:29getting more opportunities and, uh, you know, they're doing a lot with George. So, uh, you know,
09:35those things, uh, tend to even out over the core, uh, course of time, but, uh, no, I think
09:40CD's in a, I mean, CD and George are in a good place. And, uh, we just have to continue
09:45to go to
09:46work every day and, uh, let this thing, you know, hopefully this thing comes together. We think it
09:52will, uh, uh, we're certainly, uh, convinced we can do this and, uh, we just got to keep going to
09:58work every week and, uh, working on our execution and ultimately working on our finish.
10:03Uh, Rashawn Gary had, uh, a couple of, a number of negative impacts on the game. The, the penalty
10:10being one of the big ones there for sure. Do you get frustrated sometimes that a guy you thought
10:15was going to be that much of a contributor is sometimes that much of a liability?
10:20You know, uh, you know, when you play this game and you play it as fast as they play it,
10:25you're going to have, uh, people are going to make mistakes. And some of our great ones, uh,
10:29you know, have, have those mistakes and, um, and you know, that's part of it. Uh, when you play the
10:35game as fast as they're playing it. And, uh, uh, certainly, uh, he's done some really, really good
10:41things for us, but as you mentioned, we've, uh, but he's not the only one, uh, you know, this is
10:46a
10:47organizational thing, top to bottom. Uh, we all got to own where we are, which is three and five. And
10:53we all know, uh, that we have to be better. What is that? What does that level of ownership
10:59look like specifically to you and the rest of the front office when you reflect on, Hey,
11:05are we just not doing well enough ourselves? Yeah. I mean, we're just constantly look at that.
11:11I mean, no one wants to win more than Jerry and myself. And certainly we're, uh, you know,
11:18we're the ones who, uh, you know, put our scouting department together and put our coaching
11:23department together and, uh, you know, put our, uh, uh, approval on the personnel that we bring
11:30through here and make decisions on who gets paid and who doesn't get paid in a salary cap era. So,
11:35uh, we're right there with anybody and we have to always, uh, take a look at, uh, where we can
11:41be
11:41better. I think, uh, it was Nick Harris. I saw a report from him that the multiple, uh, league sources
11:47saying Cowboys very interested in finding an outside linebacker is adding to this thing.
11:53And at that specific position, still something that you guys are interested in right now?
11:58Yeah, we've always been consistent. If we can find a player that we feel like can help us. I
12:02think we've done, uh, throughout the off season this year, as well as into the season with the
12:07last one, of course, me and Joey Porter. Um, but we're always, uh, open, uh, to looking at making
12:14our team better. Are you concerned at all that given the inconsistencies that you've mentioned
12:19that adding more to this team at the cost of the future would be a mistake?
12:24No, I think right now, uh, we're convinced that we can, uh, you know, we think we're close. We
12:31think we can get this ship righted and, uh, that we can have success. And so certainly if we felt
12:37like we were getting a player, we always measure, uh, you know, how much value we're given for this
12:42year only, and then what it means to the future.
12:45I was hoping you could go back to one thing you just said that I was really fascinated.
12:49Everybody needs to improve. When you reflect on yourself or the front office personally,
12:54what, what do you think you and the front office could do a better job of?
12:59You know, I think that there, uh, it's just putting together the right chemistry on a football
13:05team, whether it's your coaching staff, whether it's the players that we're putting with this
13:10staff, we constantly look at that and, uh, make sure we're putting this thing together the right
13:16way. I do think we've got a, uh, you know, a great scouting department, uh, led by Will McClay back
13:21there, uh, that has done a great job with personnel. I think, uh, probably one thing that's, uh, you know,
13:29frustrating, you never want to have the turnover, uh, you know, that we've had, if you can help it.
13:34I mean, for us to have had four, uh, defensive coordinators in four years, this is not, it's
13:40not good. I mean, you, you don't get consistency that way. And, uh, we certainly have to, uh,
13:46look at, uh, how we can do that better.
13:48How do you balance that out with, and I really am fascinated by this in terms of management.
13:53How do you balance that out with, but we don't want to hold the wrong people too long. I'm not
13:58saying that about shoddy or CP, but like, how do you balance that fear versus, well, unfortunately,
14:04we might've picked the wrong people again. Well, we've, uh, we've always, uh, looked at,
14:10uh, looked at that, whether it's, uh, you know, the tenure of Jason Garrett, which was long,
14:15the tenure of Mike McCarthy, which was, you know, uh, full, full contract. Uh, you know,
14:21we hadn't made the changes there at the same time. We've been willing to make changes, uh,
14:26when we felt it was the wrong decision, uh, the last three years, the defensive coordinator,
14:31obviously Dan left because he had a great opportunity and he had been there three or
14:36four years and was doing a great job. Uh, and then unfortunately we rolled through coach
14:41Zimmer and coach Uber flus, and we didn't feel like that was the, those were the right
14:46choices and we made the decision. So we can go, uh, we can certainly balance that and make
14:51that call. And obviously, uh, hard decisions for us because, uh, both coach Zimmer and coach
14:58Uber flus had been through, uh, through here and were people that we thought a lot of,
15:03and obviously had a lot of respect for. And a lot of that went into our decision-making,
15:08uh, with coach Zimmer and coach Uber flus. But at the same time, uh, we made a very difficult
15:13decision to move on from that after a year.
15:16The last thing I've got for you today, I know you've talked about talent acquisition,
15:2024, seven, three 65, and you wouldn't want to look at it like this, but would you see a scenario
15:26in which the Colts are falling apart? If that ended up being a loss, would you have to look at
15:32those next two days before the trade deadline and think maybe we need to unload some stuff?
15:37Guys, we're looking at, uh, getting better this week. And, uh, we got a big game against the Colts
15:42and that's what we're focused on.
15:44All right. Appreciate the time as always, sir.
15:47Thanks a lot.
15:49I don't know if he meant that.
15:51Uh, there we go. Stephen Jones right here on 105.3 The Fan.
