ARLINGTON, Texas — Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones called the Dallas Cowboys’ defense a work in progress after Sunday’s 37-20 win over the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium, and said it is better than it has been in either of the last two seasons.
Dallas allowed 389 yards and 182 rushing yards to Washington, a week after giving up 28 points in a loss at the Giants in defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s debut. It also held Washington to 1 touchdown in 3 red-zone trips and forced the game’s only turnover. Jones credited the offense and the plan from Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer in the same answer.
“We’re better than we’ve been in the last two years on defense. And offensively, we saw some really impressive things out there tonight. And I want to give the Washington team a lot of credit for what they do defensively. But I like some things that I saw out there,” Jones said. “But offensively, Dak and that offensive line came to play. And it went directly, went down through how we were going to approach the game, how we were going to step up the passing attack, all of it that Brian went over, how he was going to game plan them, went right down the line.”
Jerry Jones On Dak Prescott’s Record And Tyler Guyton
Jones has owned the team since 1989, when Dallas drafted Troy Aikman first overall. Dak Prescott passed Tony Romo for the franchise record with his 249th touchdown pass Sunday, and Jones pointed to the work behind it.
“I just think it’s such a statement for how he did it, how he does it. And he does it with hard, hard work,” Jones explained. “And he makes it look pretty easy out there, but anybody that knows that, you guys that see him at practice and training camp, knows that he’s the hardest working guy on the team. So I’m proud for him. And, boy, he stands in with pretty good company to have broken that record.”
Prescott was sacked twice for 13 yards and threw 31 passes without an interception. Tyler Guyton started at left tackle with left guard Tyler Smith on injured reserve after thumb surgery, and Jones singled Guyton out among the linemen.
“Of course, we all know what he means to the team, the success of the team. And we’ve got to build the complementary things around that to take advantage of what he can do. And we’ve done that to a big degree,” Jones said. “I was really pleased with the way our offensive line, we saw some good things out there tonight with Guyton in particular. So I was pleased with the way they played. But particularly, we’ve got to understand we’re working with work in progress over on defense, but it was a lot better.”
Jerry Jones On Jayden Daniels Injury And Rio Field
Jayden Daniels dislocated his left elbow on the final play of the first half, a third-down incompletion from the Dallas 1 that ended Washington’s last chance to tie the game before halftime. Jones was focused on the stop, not the injury.
“I really was more, frankly, I was more focused on the fact that they hadn’t scored right before the half and the meaning of that,” Jones said. “It didn’t soak into me until, because there were no more plays, I really didn’t know the seriousness of it until almost we started the second half.”
Dallas plays the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 27 at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, where comments from soccer players have raised questions about the playing surface. Jones fielded the same question before kickoff.
“I’m not up to date on it. I was asked about it before the game. I don’t know any more now than I knew then. So we’ll look at that, and I know that’s of utmost concern to the league and the teams to have a good playing surface down there,” Jones said. “So we’ll obviously, you’ll certainly stay informed as we look to it, and it’s front of mind now that we’ve gotten past the Washington Commanders.”
Kickoff in Rio is set for 3:25 p.m. CT on CBS.
