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FRISCO, Texas — The penalties from Sunday’s win at Indianapolis belong in front of the mirror, according to Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones. A host on 105.3 The Fan’s Shan & RJ show raised the view from critics that the flags, including DeMarvion Overshown’s sideline celebration, point to the culture or to sloppiness in how the team is being coached this season.
Dissatisfaction after a game leads everyone to ask whether that is who they are, in Jones’ view, and the timing of the flags at Indianapolis made them worth that look.
“Well, I think that’s the way that we all do,” Jones said. “When we have dissatisfaction with how we played, we say, ‘Well, boy, is that what we are?’ You should use that and put it right in the middle of the mirror and say, ‘Boy, those penalties, especially the ones that call back, the timeliness of them, call back key first downs, key field position.’ You take that, and that’s the way you do it.”
“You’ve got nine games that you’ve played. We’ve got eight more to go,” Jones continued. “And man alive, I can remember when 10 games was a college season. Now that’s not the way it is anymore, but at one time it was. So you’ve got to really take where we are. In this particular case, with our health where we are, a key player, and we’ve got to take where [we are and] be very real with ourselves about where we’re lacking and build on that.”
“Now we’ve had some things that we’ve really improved on since the start of the year on the defensive side of the ball, and frankly, there’s some things on the offensive side of the ball that, although we made those mistakes the other day, there’s some things on the offensive side of the ball that we want to embellish and have on the field with us when we play this weekend,” Jones added.
Dallas was flagged 14 times for 153 yards in the 27-23 win over the Indianapolis Colts and leads the NFL with 667 penalty yards through nine games. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer, in his second season, said Monday that “undisciplined” was an accurate word for the performance and put the responsibility on “all of us.”
Jerry Jones Rejects Settling Into A 4-5 Identity
The Cowboys’ stumbles have come against teams that were struggling. Dallas lost 24-16 on Oct. 8 to a Tampa Bay team that was winless at the time and starting an undrafted rookie quarterback. On Nov. 1, backup Gardner Minshew II rallied the Arizona Cardinals from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to a 33-30 overtime win.
Relative to past seasons, the roster is acceptably healthy, and that starts at quarterback. Jones said there is no reason to resign the team to its current spot.
“Relatively speaking, we’re acceptably healthy,” Jones explained. “Our quarterback is really in good shape. That’s saying a lot. We’ve had years when we didn’t have him in that good of shape, and so without just generalizing things, you start down your list of the things that are going good for you.”
“Let’s take the good parts of what we did the other day and the last few games,” Jones continued. “Let’s put it all together and come out and play like the team that we want to be against the 49ers. That’s what you do. You don’t even think about doing anything else, and you address those things. They’re all pretty obvious to everybody where we can improve. You’ve got your win, but then you’ve got a lot of things that you can really emphasize that everybody understands, everybody agrees with. I’m talking players as what the coaches are trying to get them to concentrate on. Let’s take where we’ve improved and let’s basically expand on that.”
Jones Says A Gruff Coach Can Still Work
Fans on social media often say Jimmy Johnson would have cut a player on the spot, a host noted, and raised whether a gruff, hard-driving coach can still resonate with today’s players. Jones hired Johnson in 1989, and Johnson coached the Cowboys to wins in Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII.
A coach’s style is something players accept, Jones said, and he believes it still works.
“Yes, I think you can,” Jones said. “I think that’s an acceptance of someone’s personality, their style, and yeah, I think it works. I think those guys do some things.”
Jones recalled the roughest coach he ever had, who would wear him out in front of the team several times and then wait for him to come out of the locker room after practice.
“Those guys are endearing,” Jones continued. “And they’re very effective in sports. Is there more to it than that? Of course, there is.”
The Cowboys (4-5) host the San Francisco 49ers (7-1) on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:25 p.m. CT on FOX.
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