FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones went on record Friday that his team will improve from the way it played in a 28-20 loss to the New York Giants in the opener.
Jones spoke on the K&C Masterpiece on 105.3 The Fan, two days before Dallas hosts the Washington Commanders and quarterback Jayden Daniels at AT&T Stadium.
Dallas structured its defense to be physical, according to Jones. The improvement has to come from the players and the coaching staff together.
“I think it’s a combination,” Jones said. “At the end of the day, the players are making the plays or making the mistakes. And so it has to manifest itself right there on the spot on the field. But the improvement, certainly from where we played Sunday, that improvement is to be expected and will be there. I’m just going to say it. It will be there.”
“I know how hard these guys are working,” Jones continued. “I know their physical capabilities, and I also know their motivation. And so you’ll see improvement. I will go on record as saying that.”
New York gained 394 yards, 165 of them on the ground. The Giants converted 9 of 11 third downs.
Jerry Jones Says Sliding Rule Gives Running Quarterbacks An Edge
Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart ran 11 times for 54 yards. Dart did a really good job, in Jones’ view, and so did the rest of New York.
“It is a fact of life in the NFL,” Jones explained. “And you’d even not even go as far as to say they’ve got an edge because of the sliding rule. They can basically take off and they can be very effective on the run, and they’re protected. And so they have a little nuance there that would encourage you to put that in your game plan if you’ve got one with the ability to do it.”
“On the other hand, all of that comes to us when you do have an injury at that position,” Jones added. “So it comes with some compromising when you say, well, we’ll just put our quarterback in the running game a little bit more. Having said all of that, you bet. But that hurt us last week. The quarterback did a really good job. They just did a good job all over. And I will tell you, they were better than we thought they were. I’m anxious to see how New York continues to play. But really, a combination of things. We didn’t play as well as we should play and can play. But they played better than I thought they could.”
Jayden Daniels, Lamar Jackson Next For Dallas Cowboys Defense
Daniels was the second overall pick in 2024 and the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year that season. He played 7 games last season.
He entered 2026 with 1,169 career rushing yards. In a 24-22 loss at the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1, he completed 18-of-34 passes for 164 yards, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions, and ran for 31 yards.
Defending the zone reads New York ran could help Dallas against both quarterbacks, according to defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.
“He’s extremely dangerous,” Williams said of Daniels on Wednesday. “They’ve got two receivers over there that’re really good, and they’ve got a run game that’s good also. I just think especially learning from what we did last week and growing and executing and communicating is a big thing for this week also.”
Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens follow on Sept. 27 at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The two-time MVP holds the NFL record for career rushing yards by a quarterback. He set the single-season record for a quarterback with 1,206 rushing yards in 2019.
Baltimore opened with a 41-23 win at Indianapolis.
Kickoff against Washington is 3:25 p.m. CT Sunday on FOX. The Baltimore game kicks off at 3:25 p.m. CT on CBS.
