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FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones listed quarterback, receiver, and the offensive line as Dallas’ top strengths Friday and said the Cowboys planned in the spring to change up their offense as the season goes on.
Jones made the comments during his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan’s K&C Masterpiece, two days before the 4-5 Cowboys host the 7-1 San Francisco 49ers. Dallas ranked second in the NFL in total offense in 2025 at 391.9 yards per game.
A host said the offense, the strength of last year’s team, has had stretches this season that raised questions. Jones said the offensive line has not played as well as it should over the last two or three games.
“It’s going to surprise you, but I count as one of our top strengths, I go to quarterback, I go to receivers, then I go to the offensive line,” Jones said. “We can play that well. We have the talent there to do it, and we’ve got the experience as we’ve moved along to do it.”
Jerry Jones Expects Dallas Cowboys To Change Things Up On Offense
Changes to the offense were anticipated and discussed in the spring, Jones said, when the staff talked through options for how to change it up.
“All of that starts gelling, and plus, it’s important to know that you’ve got to change things up. You can’t be exactly the same offensive team in schemes and plays in the playoffs that you were in the early part of the year, at the end of the year, for that matter, maybe at the middle of the season,” Jones continued. “And so you’ve got to have some changeup going on there, or they’ll read you. They being the defenses of the opposing team, they’ll read you and they’ll stop you, and so we’ve got to make sure.”
“But by the way, that was anticipated. That was thought about in the spring. Those options were thought about then, and how to change it up,” Jones added. “I like the idea that you can change it up.”
Jones pointed to former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and said halftime adjustments are hard to make with the limited time a staff has each week.
“One of the things I liked about Belichick so much is he’d change it up at the half, and that’s not necessarily done a lot. And he’d come out there and look different in the second half, visibly so,” Jones noted. “That’s hard to do. That doesn’t work with the limited time you’ve got in the week to put a game plan, but it can be doable.”
“So I think that with the depth of Schottenheimer’s background on offense, the time that he’s had with our offense, with our quarterback, I think we’ve got a chance to solve some of our problems by changing that up on them as we go on forward,” Jones continued.
Jones On A 17-Game Season And Roster Change
The NFL has played a 17-game regular season since 2021. A veteran can decline over that stretch while a rookie can make a jump, Jones said, and he was describing what to expect rather than grading the changes so far.
“I’m just giving you what you need to expect, and that it’s not uncommon in the NFL. You play 17 games. You’ve heard me say many times, way back, 10 games was the season. So you’ve got almost twice as many games,” Jones explained. “A veteran player, going over the course of a season, can start the season off at one level of ability and decline as you get near the playoffs because it’s almost two college seasons.”
“So you’ve got to anticipate those kind of changes. Same thing with a young player. He’ll start off as a rookie, pitch him as a freshman, and by the time you get to the playoffs or in that range, it’s like his junior year in college,” Jones continued. “So you have that much to anticipate of change. You want it for the better. You have to deal with the attrition, have to deal with your injuries during that time. But all of that is involved in changing.”
Wide receiver George Pickens (hamstring) was limited in practice Wednesday and Thursday. Dallas hosts San Francisco at 3:25 p.m. CT on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. The game airs on Fox.
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