Tag: Jerry Jones comments

Jerry Jones hypes rookie WR set to make NFL debut: ‘He’s got Dez Bryant stuff’

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys owner invoked the name of an all-time fan favorite. The 6th-round draft pick models his game after Jerry Rice. We’ll soon see.

A Cowboys-Steelers matchup- in primetime, no less- rarely needs a lot of extra juice. After 33 all-time meetings, the Cowboys hold just a one-game edge in the series. But the interconference rivalry was built largely on Super Bowls. To wit: they’re the only teams to meet in the big game three times, the two franchises have 16 appearances between them, and a total of 11 Lombardi Trophies sit in their respective lobbies.

And while this Week 5 meeting doesn’t hold that same kind of overall importance, it could nevertheless go a long way in predicting what the rest of the Cowboys’ 2024 season will look like.

Though the team sits at 2-2, the general impression around Cowboys Nation is that the bottom could drop right out of this thing any moment now. The two losses have been embarrassing blowouts, injuries have already sidelined several major playmakers, a vocal faction of fans is lobbying the owner’s family to relinquish control of the team’s day-to-day football operations, and a nasty gauntlet of opponents awaits on the schedule.

Many Cowboys fans already need a glimmer of hope to cling to.

Enter Jerry Jones.

The team’s Chief Eternal Optimist addressed concerns about a depleted wide receiver corps on Friday by pumping up… wait for it… Ryan Flournoy. The sixth-round draft pick will be active for the first time on Sunday and looks to make his NFL debut helping to fill in for six-time 1,000-yard receiver Brandin Cooks.

Flournoy is a largely unknown commodity outside The Star, but Jones had not just rave reviews for the 24-year-old, but also a big-time comparable to dangle in front of the Cowboys faithful.

“He may be something special for us,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. “On a personal basis, he’s got Dez Bryant stuff to him. Boy, is he an athlete. I’m glad to see him get this opportunity … he could show out.”

Of course, it’s worth wondering aloud: if Jones and the Cowboys are so incredibly high on Flournoy, then why leave him inactive for four straight weeks and finally play him only because of an injury at WR2?

And cynically, it’s not like anyone would really put it past Jones to overexaggerate a young player’s potential just to peddle some excitement to the fanbase during a season that threatens to go off the rails. No, better to keep those stadium seats full for the next three months by hinting that this off-the-bench guy just might become the team’s next superstar phenom, à la Tony Romo or Miles Austin.

You probably already have a No. 88 jersey; why not get you an 80 before everyone else?

To be sure, invoking the name of Bryant- the franchise’s all-time receiving touchdowns leader- certainly sets a high bar for the Southeast Missouri State product who has only played in the preseason (and marred his first of those with a costly drop.)

But Flournoy himself says he’s learned a lot since then and is ready to take a big step in his pro career.

“I’m super confident,” he told reporters earlier in the week.

“I’m thankful and thank God that I’m able to show what I’ve got, just to prove to the world that I belong.”

But the absurdly-athletic Flournoy has his sights set even higher than that, modeling his game– and even his jersey number- after his hero, the greatest small-school wide receiver of them all.

“Speaking on Jerry Rice, I’m 80. He was No. 80,” Flournoy smiled. “That’s big shoes to fill. But Jerry Rice was so dominant as a player and as, like, a Hall of Famer, man. I want to do that.

“Being the next Jerry Rice, or being the only Ryan Flournoy, is my goal.”

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Flournoy had an impressive training camp. But neither the lofty comparisons nor aspirations guarantee that Flournoy will now go off when he finally takes the field Sunday night in Pittsburgh.

In his NFL debut, Jerry Rice caught four balls for 67 yards. Dez Bryant hauled in eight passes for 56.

But it has to start somewhere; Jones said he’s “anxious to see him make his first catch with the Dallas Cowboys.”

Flournoy, too.

“I am excited to show y’all. It’s in here,” he said, tapping his chest. “It’s in here. Y’all will see.”

Jones wants to make sure of it.

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‘Not on our radar’: Jerry Jones in full denial over Cowboys’ RB situation

From @ToddBrock24f7: The Cowboys’ ground game has been very poor through the first 2 games of 2024, but Jones claims no one but “some media” is worried about it.

Jerry Jones simply doesn’t see a problem. And he can’t understand why the question keeps coming up.

The Cowboys owner made his weekly call-in to Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan on Friday, and he went into full-blown denial mode when asked about the team’s current running back situation.

“This is a little bit of a first for me,” he told the K&C Masterpiece show on Friday, “because I’ve never seen such made of our position and what we’re doing at that position- running back- this year and not having done this or not having done that at running back.”

The Cowboys found themselves in quite a pickle over the offseason in regard to the ground game. Tony Pollard was deemed too expensive to keep and was allowed to leave in free agency. Rather than pursue one of several high-profile rushers on the open market, the Cowboys instead brought sentimental favorite Ezekiel Elliott back on a cheap one-year deal.

Then the club opted not to look to the draft for any new talent at the position, deciding to go into the regular season with a committee that also included Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn, and Hunter Luepke. Dalvin Cook was added late in the offseason, but he has yet to make it off the practice squad after a summer of working out on his own.

Given all that, the results on the field have been predictably lousy.

Over two games, only eight teams have fewer rushing attempts than Dallas’s 46. They have just 170 rushing yards; only six teams have amassed fewer. They are tied for the sixth-lowest yards-per-carry average (3.7) in the league. The team’s biggest ground gain of the season so far is 12 yards, tying them with two other squads for the shortest long run.

Elliott and Dowdle are dead even for the team lead with 56 yards each, but that puts them in only 49th and 50th place among all ballcarriers leaguewide. In fact, they both rank lower than every other club’s top rusher, and 17 teams- more than half the NFL- have two rushers ahead of them on the yardage list.

Yet Jones was blunt: he’s not even thinking about bolstering the group.

“Running back is just not on our radar as far as an area of interest,” he snapped.

The 81-year-old went even further, claiming that no one in his circle of influence is even discussing the running back position as a concern.

“I don’t have anybody else in the world asking me about this but some media,” Jones offered. “A few of the media have gotten out here and written some stories early about how we’re going to go with a running back in the draft or how we need a running back, and they’re trying to cover their you-know-what as we go through the season.”

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He summarily dismissed the idea of activating Cook from the practice squad (and not for the first time this week), saying, “I don’t know that that will happen.”

And he sounded perfectly content to stick with the rushing attack he has now, despite the uninspiring numbers posted above.

So Sunday’s Week 3 contest will feature Elliott on one sideline, with the Ravens’ Derrick Henry on the other. The Cowboys could have made a move to acquire Henry in the offseason, and most observers- including Henry himself– thought it would have been an ideal match.

Instead, Henry comes to town wearing Baltimore purple with a significantly better yards-per-carry average this season (4.2) than Elliott and Dowdle, and more rushing yards (130) than Elliott, Dowdle, Vaughn, and Luepke combined.

But in Jones’s mind, Henry and Elliott are basically the same.

“Both of these guys came out at the same time,” he said. “We’ve got a pretty good contemporary of our competition this week in Zeke Elliott. I’m pleased with what Zeke is doing.”

The emperor in Dallas has no clothes. And the Cowboys have no running game.

And the man in charge can’t- or won’t- admit it.

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Measuring Sticks: Jerry Jones wants to gauge Cowboys by 49ers standards

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones clearly sees this contest as a statement game for Mike McCarthy’s troops. | From @ChiefArmyW3

Two of the best teams in the NFL square off on Sunday night when the Cowboys travel to San Francisco in a battle for NFC supremacy.The 49ers have ended the Cowboy’s postseason dreams for two straight years and a win on Sunday night “would be inspiring,” according to Dallas’ owner Jerry Jones.

San Fransisco is one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the NFL with the other being the Philadelphia Eagles. Dallas not only needs to win for playoff seeding but also to keep pace with their undefeated division foe. On his weekly radio segment with 105.3 The Fan, Jones had some interesting comments regarding this weekend’s highly anticipated matchup.

“They are, probably, the most likely team to go win the Super Bowl, but in order for them to get there, they have to go by us, hopefully two times if that’s the way it falls in the playoffs and we’re in the playoffs, of course.”

If they are to win on Sunday night, Dallas will need to find some sort of offensive rhythm which has escaped them in their prior playoff meetings. In the two postseason losses to the 49ers, Dallas has only been able to put up 29 points against their vaunted defense, total. So it’s no wonder Jones is looking forward to how this version of Dallas fares against the 2023 49ers. “You need the game to show you how you stack up against the best.”

Jones didn’t reserve all of his praise for the opponents, calling his own defense “hard to handle,” especially when the team can build a lead. That group will be tested as San Francisco’s offense has looked unstoppable at several times across the start to the season..

Jones’s measuring stick comments have come with mixed results. Back in 2019, a 6-4 Cowboys team played against a 9-1 Patriots and lost 13-9. The club went on to finish 8-8 and head coach Jason Garrett was fired at the conclusion of the season.

Last season, Jones made similar comments with different results. Dallas beat the eventual NFC representative in Philadelphia 40-34 in December, albeit with a backup quarterback.

While measuring the success of a team is not encapsulated by winning one game, walking out of Levi Stadium with a victory on Sunday night will go a long way toward the Cowboys mental state against a 49ers team that has had their number lately.

Connor McGovern to start at LG per owner, Cowboys HC McCarthy hopeful for Tyron Smith return

Jerry Jones confirmed a switch at left guard. Mike McCarthy said only, “both Connors will play,” and is hopeful that Tyron Smith will go. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys have yet to see their “best five” offensive linemen take the field together in the starting lineup in 2021. With left tackle Tyron Smith trending in the right direction after a two-game absence, it could finally happen in Kansas City on Sunday.

It just may not be the five everyone thought it was going to be.

While head coach Mike McCarthy sounds optimistic that Smith could be back for the Week 11 game versus the Chiefs, another piece on the left side of the offensive line could also be changing as well. It’s a change many within the fanbase have been clamoring for.

Owner Jerry Jones confirmed on Dallas radio that third-year player Connor McGovern will be getting the start at left guard against the Chiefs, replacing Connor Williams. Williams has started at that spot in every game this season for the Cowboys.

“I think he’s basically earned [it],” Jones said, per 105.3 The Fan.

McGovern has seen plenty of snaps in 2021, but at various other positions in the offense, lining up in special formations as a blocking back, a tight end, and even split out as a wide receiver. Now he appears set to step in at left guard, despite playing right guard for most of his career.

“The issue with him is playing left guard,” Jones continued. “He has really sold the staff and sold the team on what he can do at right guard. So he’s doing two things. He’s not only going to have that role, but he’s going to be doing it at left guard.”

McGovern started nine games at right guard last season after Zack Martin suffered a concussion and then returned to the lineup as a fill-in right tackle.

Williams has been plagued by penalties this season, drawing a league-most 13 flags in nine outings. Asked about it earlier in the week, McCarthy hinted that swapping one Connor for another might be an option.

McCarthy said Williams “clearly understands the way he performed. We have a very competitive offensive line room. We’ll see what the future brings.”

It seems the future is now here at left guard. McCarthy wouldn’t confirm a change to the starting lineup, only revealing to 105.3 The Fan that “both Connors will play in the game.”

The coach did, however, express optimism that left tackle Tyron Smith could be making his return to the left side of the line for Sunday’s interconference showdown in Kansas City.

“We’re hopeful he can go on Sunday,” the coach said of Smith at The Star in Frisco on Friday. The 30-year-old was limited in practice on both Wednesday and Thursday, with the team working him back gradually from a bone spur issue in his ankle. Friday is traditionally the team’s mock game day; Smith was scheduled to participate.

That would have him meeting the three-game threshold that McCarthy and the training staff had laid out for Smith’s week and leaves one last hurdle for the Week 11 showdown. If Smith practices Saturday, the plan is for him to take the field on Sunday.

“He looks good,” McCarthy offered. “He felt good about his work.”

And Cowboys fans have cause to feel good, too, with the team’s seven-time Pro Bowler returning to his customary spot at left tackle and a rising star getting a shot next to him in replacing a weak link.

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Notes: Aikman rips Cowboys front office, 3 Cowboys out vs. Bears

Jerry Jones has a cryptic comment about his coach, a HOFer has harsh words for his ex-boss, and the team’s new triplets close in on history.

A Thursday gameday has Cowboys Nation already looking at final injury reports for both Dallas and Chicago in advance of their primetime meeting on Lake Shore Drive. Three Cowboys have been ruled out, along with one familiar face in the Bears secondary.

Khalil Mack has good things to say about the Dallas offense, but Troy Aikman isn’t as gracious when it comes to the Cowboys front office. Owner Jerry Jones offers a cryptic comment about coach Jason Garrett’s future, and a noted football insider has a bone to pick regarding the current playoff seeding structure. All that plus the Cowboys’ new triplets close in on team history, and a closer look at some killer cleats for some exceptional causes. Here’s your News and Notes slate ahead of Week 14’s game.

Updates: 3 Cowboys ruled out vs. Bears :: The Mothership

The trio of Cowboys who were on the fence for Thursday’s game in Chicago will now officially be wearing street clothes on the Soldier Field sideline. Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch is still dealing with a neck issue, defensive tackle Antwaun Woods has a knee problem, and safety Jeff Heath is working through a double shoulder ailment.

The ankle injury that kept running back Tony Pollard out of Tuesday’s practice is still a source of some concern; the rookie is listed as questionable for the Bears tilt.

Injury update: Amukamara doubtful with hamstring :: chicagobears.com

Bears cornerback Prince Amukamara had some memorable meetings with Dallas when he was a member of the Giants from 2011 to 2015. Thursday night was to be the former first-rounder’s first time facing the Cowboys since leaving New York. But that rematch may have to wait; Amukamara is listed as doubtful for Week 14’s showdown due to a hamstring injury sustained on Thanksgiving Day in Chicago’s game versus Detroit.

The Bears’ official website lists offensive tackle Bobby Massie, wide receiver Taylor Gabriel, tight end Ben Braunecker, and linebacker Danny Trevathan as out.

Khalil Mack says Dak Prescott will be huge challenge for Bears defense :: NBC Sports Chicago

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has had a stellar 2019 campaign, despite the team’s overall performance. The leader of Chicago’s defense thinks keeping him in check will be “a big challenge.”

Mack says of Prescott, “The guy knows how to put his team in a position to win games. He’s a hell of a ballplayer. He plays with a lot of heart, and you see it. You see it reflected in the film.”

But Mack and his defensive mates know they won’t be able to key solely on stopping the Dallas air attack. Of two-time rushing champ Ezekiel Elliott, Mack says, “He’s one of the most physical running backs in the league. It’s going to be a huge task. He’s a guy who runs the ball like he’s angry. It’s going to be our job to make sure he feels us.”

Aikman: Way organization is run is to ‘detriment of the Cowboys’ :: NBC DFW

Troy Aikman thinks his former quarterback understudy Jason Garrett has “the hardest job in football” as head coach of the Cowboys and says he’s “done a really nice job” in that capacity over the past decade. But the Hall of Famer admits that sometimes a change at the top is needed. If the team doesn’t go on a late run and find postseason success, that change could be coming soon to Dallas.

Aikman even had some harsh words for his former boss and went on to talk about the unique front office situation that a prospective new coach would be walking into.

“It’s not run, traditionally, the way most organizations are. I think that’s to the detriment of the Cowboys. I don’t think you can look at three playoff wins in the last 25 years and surmise that all of the problems over that time have been a result of coaching.”

Aikman goes into detail of how Jones meddles, and one can’t help but wonder how this will impact any coding search.

Jones waxes poetic on Jason Garrett with empty rhetoric yet again :: Cowboys Wire

The NFL’s annual head coaching carousel started turning a bit earlier than expected on Wednesday when Ron Rivera was shown the door in Carolina. Almost on cue, talk in sports radio circles turned to whether Rivera might be a fit in Dallas if Jason Garrett also gets his walking papers.

Even with a lackluster 6-6 record, Garrett’s team is- improbably- still favored to win the division title. Talk of a coaching change in Dallas might, then, seem premature. But it turns out the buzz had gotten a little louder just hours earlier, when owner Jerry Jones spoke with 105.3 The Fan that very morning.

The outspoken owner had plenty to say about Garrett’s aptitude and qualities. He talked about the high bar for NFL coaches in the chase to win Super Bowls. But he ended with the bombshell heard ’round the league: “In my opinion, Jason Garrett will be coaching in the NFL next year.”

Lots of room for interpretation there. Acres upon acres, in fact.

Cowboys’ new triplets close in on history :: @dannyphantom24 (Twitter)

Somewhat lost in the disappointment of a middling 6-6 record has been just how statistically good the Cowboys offense has been. Quarterback Dak Prescott, running back Ezekiel Elliott, and wideout Amari Cooper are all putting up very good numbers. And while the individual totals might not be translating to as many wins as all involved would prefer, the trio of stars is on the cusp of doing something historic in the annals of Dallas football.

Big Facts: Cowboys haven’t lost TNF in 40 years :: The Mothership

Dallas has played on the Thursday night after Thanksgiving in each of the past three seasons. They won all three contests. They also appeared on Thursday Night Football in 2014 and 2007. Both were victories. In fact, the last time Dallas lost on a Thursday night? 1978.

Also explored in this compendium of trivia: Randall Cobb’s prowess this season against his former NFC North rivals, Jason Witten knocking on the door of the franchise’s touchdown reception record, and a look at the coldest games in team history.

Revised playoff seeding is long overdue :: ProFootballTalk

The winner of the NFC East- either Dallas or Philadelphia- will host a playoff game at their home stadium. Either San Francisco or Seattle will come in to that matchup with a much better regular season record, but as the runner-up in their division. That means they’ll be the visitors, with the lesser-performing team getting home field advantage for the first round of the playoffs. It’s happened before. And now that’s it’s happening again, it’s sparking discussion about whether that’s right.

As Mike Florio suggests, “Maybe the rule should be that the division winner has to have a winning record to host a wild-card game. Maybe the division winner should be required to generate a record of 10-6 or better. Whatever the formula, the current one is grossly unfair.”

Take note: If the existing seeding system benefits Jerry Jones and the Cowboys and helps them beat a seemingly-superior team and advance in postseason play, it just may be enough for another of the NFL owners to propose an official change during the league meetings in March.

Cowboys wearing their hearts on their cleats :: The Mothership

For the fourth year in a row, NFL players will showcase their personal causes in the My Cause My Cleats campaign. More than 900 players will wear custom-made cleats with artwork highlighting the charities and initiatives they support off the field.

From children’s hospitals and anti-bullying programs to cancer research and youth services, the Cowboys’ cleats will give attention to a long list of worthy causes when the players hit the field in their artsy footwear prior to Thursday night’s game in Chicago.