Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones joined GBAG Nation on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM] to discuss free agency, sunlight interference at AT&T Stadium and more.
Here are highlights of the conversation edited for clarity:
Do you have the energy he work you did to repeat the offseason success you had last year in getting free agents and Dan Quinn?
Jerry Jones: “We of course have the energy. My goodness, if you can’t get energized to being a part of this thing and being a part of the aura and the fan base and the interest and the Cowboys and being involved in the NFL today, and you got any red blood in your veins at all, you can’t get fired up about going to work here, you really should get in the pine box, crawl in there yourself. I’m serious.
“If you can’t get fired up over that, you guys know I’m the luckiest guy you have on this show or beyond that. So, energy and passion and willing to move a mountain or whatever you’re willing to do, that’s not the issue here. That’s not the issue. But what is the issue is how we address what we’re dealing with right now, how we’re addressing with where we are with our coaching, where we are with our personnel.
“Doing that and all of the other things that we do every day. And you can look around the league and see a lot of people asking a lot of the same questions. We just had a little better opportunity here. We had great talent.”
There was an incomplete pass in the game because of the sun. Is there a look at possibly putting shades up to help out that direction when it becomes that 3-5 o’clock range?
Jones: “I wish to Hell all I had to worry about was a ball hitting the screen or a little sun getting in there. Conditions and elements have been a part of football since it was spelled the first time. No. That’s about 10,000 on my list of things to worry about. And, no, we’re not going to do anything with it. It goes both ways. Both teams had a chance to get in the sun, both teams had a chance to get out of the sun.
“Relative to the elements that I see other people play, it’s nothing relative to — somebody said something about a ball hitting the screen. Do you know how many punts we’ve had out there that never hit that screen? It’s ridiculous. Well, I do the very same thing. When I’ve had my ass kicked or people mad at me, then I’m going to pick something out that I’m going to pick on them.
“Well, they don’t color coordinate or they don’t wear something I want them to wear when it’s really something much more important than that. What we got on our mind is that we didn’t play well enough in the first playoff game with a Hell of a team.
“Those are the other issues. I’m not going to worry about the popcorn over this. I’m not going to worry about a lot of stuff over this. I need to worry about something frankly that gets us back this week, next year in the playoffs.”
Do you think Dak [Prescott] can win a Super Bowl?
Jones: “Yes, I do. I sure do. One thing that I start with. I learned a long time ago Ben Franklin had a rule when he was down and low down and had setbacks. And he took all the positives on the left side of the page and list them and then all the negatives on the right.
“And if the left side was longer than the right, then he walked out with a spark in his step and a smile. If the other side was longer, then he drank all day, let’s say. My point is without trying to be any way I start right there with a big circle and a big plus [for the] future: Dak Prescott.”
What is it on the positive side of your list that makes you think he can win a Super Bowl? What does that list look like for you?
Jones: “Well, the list starts with that he has shown every time he’s ever gotten in a position, he’s shown that he is a winner in football. He’s shown that every time he’s ever had the chance to. And, as you well know, especially at that position, it’s hard to pinpoint the skill that makes it happen. It’s hard to pinpoint that.
“But Dak Prescott has the skill to make it happen. We’ve got skill players. [Ezekiel] Elliott has the skills to make it happen. We’ve got the offensive line talent to make it happen. We’ve just got to get it right and get it going in the same direction. Certainly things change now from one year to the next.
“We’re not going to be dealing with the same situation next year as we dealt with this year. We’re certainly not going to be dealing with many of the same players and to some extent the same coaches. Just not going to.”
Do you feel like Amari Cooper and DeMarcus Lawrence will be on the 2022 Dallas Cowboys?
Jones: “I don’t need to talk to us in an elementary way. The reason those contracts are being discussed is because they have two sides to them: one’s got it coming and the other’s got to pay it. And the one that’s got it coming is going to go out and perform usually to the level of the contract. That’s usually the way I think about those contracts.
“You don’t just get up and take contracts or agreements with each other and just decide that because you’ve had a big [phumphering] at home that you’re going to change directions. One of the things about contracts — you know, we have 10 players, and this is the way it is around the NFL, we have 10 players that get two-thirds of the money: 10 that gets two-thirds of the money.
“And, so, you got to have a lot of other things that is thought process when you’re sitting here talking about somebody’s contracts. And, no, I don’t have any comment on Cooper’s contract. I thought that we were playing early when we did make something happen, I thought Cooper had a big part in that. And I’m not being trite. But how he fits in and should take half the field with him when he goes and runs the field.
“Not half, that’s an exaggeration, of course, but a whole bunch of that defense should have to honor Cooper. He ought to be able to catch it when they’re going in the middle with him. Others do. You throw to people that are covered all the time in the NFL. You have to. Most people don’t have the numbers of receivers that we have.”
Before we do let you go, were you pleased with the job Dan Quinn and Kellen Moore did throughout the entire season this year?
Jones: “The team and their functions got us in a position healthy, in a position to win a Super Bowl. And, so, I’m very guarded about throwing all of that down the drain because we didn’t win one of the steps in the playoffs getting to the Super Bowl.
“So, to answer your question, I take into consideration a lot about how well we did this year in the regular season and what it meant and what the record meant. So, I will. And, so, yes, I thought we did a really, a really good job of getting to the playoffs. Still, I can’t over what we did in the playoffs.”
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