Jerry Jones responded to the criticism he’s faced after Dak Prescott’s ankle injury

“This is part of the game.”

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is expected to miss up to six months after suffering a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle during Sunday’s game against the Giants.

And as Prescott was being carted off the field and transported to the hospital, much of the NFL world also turned its attention to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

Prescott was playing this season out on a one-year deal after being hit with the franchise tag for the second straight year. The hope with Prescott for much of this past offseason was that he would reach a long-term deal with the Cowboys, but that contract never came.

As a result, plenty of fans blamed Jones for failing to reach a deal with Prescott and now jeopardizing a contract that Prescott deserved all along. Jones, though, doesn’t see it that way.

Speaking in a radio appearance with 105.3 The Fan, Jones said that the injury did not change how the Cowboys view Dak as their franchise quarterback. He also responded to the criticism, via radio.com:

“We’ve got to be reminded that to have a team, we’ve got to really manage how we dole out our resources. Dak is deserving of anything that you want to put on a piece of paper, relatively speaking. He’s deserving of that. If you evaluate what he can do to help us win championships, you can see that it’s there. Plus, he’s a leader at the premier leader spot. We’ve got to make it work. So what am I saying? I’m saying exactly the same thing I said the last time I was asked about this before the season started. This is part of the game, the business and the contract part.”

Jones added that he’s confident Prescott will be back to full strength by April or May. We’ll have to see, though, if the injury actually has no impact on the contract negotiations.

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