- 3 hours ago
Jerry Jones joined The K&C Masterpiece to recap the Cowboys 24-16 loss to the Bucs. Jones discussed defensive line mistakes, Joey Porter Jr.'s absence, DaRon Bland, Jake Ferguson, and more.
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00:00We bring to you our Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager, Jerry Jones. Good morning, sir.
00:06Hey, well, good morning. I just stepped away from what you would expect us to be doing,
00:11and that is meeting and looking for ways to address the ballgame last night. So
00:20sorry to be running four or five minutes late here.
00:22No problem at all. You said last night, this isn't a fold the tent situation kind of right
00:27here, and I totally get that sentiment because we're only five games into the season, but
00:32what have you seen thus far that gives you optimism for this particular season?
00:37Well, let me say this. Every game that I've ever been involved in, player or since I've
00:47been involved in the NFL, you can sit down as a group and you can see, but for this play,
00:55this play, this play, five or six plays usually. In our case last night, more than that. But
01:02you can basically say, but for those, we could have won that game. And so these types of meetings
01:10can actually play games with you when you say, well, we can correct those five or six things.
01:18Uh, you've also got to realize though. Reality is that, uh, when you plug them up over there,
01:25there'll be another five or six or seven things that, uh, uh, influenced how it goes. So you can,
01:32uh, have a analysis of how the game went and, uh, basically come out of a, uh, decent attitude
01:41of a pub when I'm saying decent positive. Well, that's, uh, that's not, that's BS in yourself.
01:49That's not real. Uh, you've got to look at the whole thing and say, you know, we're, uh, here
01:55we are, we've lost three games and, uh, look at how we're playing in different areas. And, uh,
02:01you've got to be hard on yourself. In other words, well, uh, I'll assure you that we're being hard
02:08on ourselves. Just, uh, for me personally, uh, that's why I have always, uh, ultimately been
02:16the decision maker and what I do period, uh, because, uh, I've had some success of looking
02:24in that mirror and, uh, uh, looking at all the bad warts that go with looking in that mirror and
02:30saying, uh, uh, that's got, uh, you've got to do that differently. You've got to change. And so, uh,
02:35that's the process here. I was asked last night about, uh, coach Parker, Christian Parker,
02:41and I said, that's way premature here. Uh, but, uh, uh, mornings like this, you've got to
02:47look at all the good qualities. And then you look at the kinds of things that, uh, uh, you
02:53need to make it would make adjustments if you had it to do over again and you sit down and
02:58you spend your time on those. This is a morning when you ought to be really looking hard at all
03:05your warts and all your bad things. And you ought to not even give yourself a chance to
03:11think about, uh, but for this, but for that, you just got to look at all hard. And there's
03:17no way to effectively do that unless you look in the mirror. And I know you've heard me say
03:23that time and time again, but it's very, very critical to adjusting, uh, if you have the
03:30ability to adjust. Well, I would love some more of your analysis if possible about some
03:35of those warts, because the organization poured tons of resources from money to draft picks to
03:41coaches into the 2026 defense. Why do you think it's early, but at least thus far, it's still
03:47pretty much looks like the league worst 2025 defense. Well, uh, uh, I just can't, uh, uh,
03:56here we are hours away from, uh, that, uh, exhibition we put on last night. And, uh, I
04:03could have, I don't know what you'd call it because it is no joy in mud bill here, but I
04:10could show and talk about a few things that look good and we got to do more of that. Uh,
04:15but I don't mind this morning pouring the salt in the wound because it needs to be, uh, that's
04:20the constructive thing to do. Uh, that's what I've been doing this morning. That's what I'll
04:25be doing all day today and, and we'll continue to be doing it is, uh, uh, giving ourselves the,
04:32uh, the rough and up that, uh, you have to do when you are performing like this. And, uh,
04:38this is, uh, this is surprising is not even a big enough word. Uh, but this is, uh, uh,
04:46mind boggling that we, uh, uh, look back on the stats of our last five games. And I do, uh,
04:54uh, in the face of all the things in the world that's going on, uh, and the area that I
04:59look
04:59at in this world, this is that type of, uh, of, uh, uh, urgency, or this is that type of
05:06degree of,
05:07of seriousness. And so, um, uh, we're going to be, uh, uh, doing things, doing things, uh, uh,
05:15to, uh, uh, keep last night from, uh, improving on where we were with, uh, some of the mistakes
05:21we made last night. Now, look, uh, I can go down through, but I'm not going to every play,
05:28every decision that ended up biting us last night. Uh, but it's all cumulative. Uh, you
05:35can generally start with, uh, uh, their offensive line. There's no way in the world, their offensive
05:41line, uh, but it should take the strength we've got in our defensive line and, uh, get, uh, get
05:48the physicalness that they got and the effectiveness they got with that physicalness. There's no way
05:53that should happen. And, uh, that would be concerning because we've gone out of our way to
05:58really put the bulk up in that defensive line of ours. Yeah. And you said, you said, so we're
06:04going to do a better job of, uh, exploiting their, uh, uh, uh, advantages over our opponents.
06:12And you'd said last night, uh, that you were, you were surprised by the way that they beat
06:17your guys in the middle of the defense. Did that mean that you were, you felt like you
06:20got pushed around there or that game plan y'all thought they were going to hit the edges
06:25better? It was pushed, but it was also, uh, they were effectively, they were pulling,
06:33they were doing, uh, uh, really, uh, uh, uh, uh, executing well and getting blocks on us
06:41in there. And, uh, uh, uh, that's my emphasis. I know that, uh, certainly our best player potentially,
06:50as well as our, uh, other, uh, best players around the positions in that middle, in that
06:57middle in there. And so, uh, uh, uh, uh, that concerns you when you see the physicalness
07:03going on there. So, uh, uh, those are, uh, those are, you look to the technique, you look
07:09to the hand placement, you look to all that kind of stuff. Uh, and, um, then you look
07:15at, uh, scheme, uh, uh, again, all of that is, uh, uh, uh, on the table and by every right
07:23should be analyzed. And you're not talking about, uh, uh, 80% of the time you're talking
07:29about 15 or percent. Well, in football, if you get beat like that 15% of the time, uh,
07:36you can have what happened to you last night. Do you worry at all then, whether it's Kenny
07:41Clark, Quinn and Williams or whatever, that y'all have picked the wrong people to give contracts
07:46and extensions to? No, no, I do not. The names you just reeled off. Absolutely not. Um, uh,
07:55we, uh, uh, we're, uh, I'm proud of those guys, of course, proud of, uh, now and in the
08:01future with those guys. And, um, uh, no, on, on, on personnel, uh, do we, uh, have personnel
08:09that we can see more out of? Yes, but not the ones you've just mentioned.
08:13The last night, not getting home was still pretty evident on certain plays that could
08:18have turned, you know, stopped third downs. Uh, even though you got guys like Rashawn Gary
08:22and guys around him, I know we ask this every week, probably two, three, four times a week,
08:27Jerry. But do you feel like after what you saw last night, that you have the answer at
08:32pass rusher right now? Well, uh, uh, if this, these pass rushers can flatten out more, if
08:39they can, uh, if they can, uh, uh, get to the level of the quarterback or in front of the
08:45level of the quarterback, as opposed to, uh, having their rush, uh, uh, the, the energy
08:51and the rush, uh, be behind the quarterback, it's got to be flatter in. And, um, those are,
08:57that's a very tangible thing that you can look at and say, Hey, we're too deep. We got
09:02to go, uh, uh, get flatter. And, uh, so, uh, uh, those types of things within, uh, the
09:10framework of, uh, uh, the hustle of the player or the skill of the player, uh, those are the
09:16kinds of things you're, uh, looking at skill level on the players we're talking about
09:21inside, make it, uh, distasteful when you end up, uh, getting beat in those areas. And
09:30so that's adjusting potential right there. How much, how much do you think Joey, uh, Joey
09:37Porter Jr.'s impact, uh, absence impacted the game plan for Christian Parker last
09:42night? I think it made a difference. Uh, he, uh, and I say that because of, uh, he came
09:49in right off the street, so to speak at Houston. But, uh, I think that impacted it. We're,
09:55uh, uh, in the secondary, we're, we're, uh, hurting, uh, as far as our numbers are concerned,
10:01uh, there is help on the way there, but still, uh, uh, the guys that were out there, uh, we
10:08are, uh, uh, good enough. It didn't look like it last night, but we're good enough to, uh,
10:13play with that talent level and have, uh, much better success. And, uh, uh, so, uh, those
10:21are, uh, those give you a chance to, uh, not focus so much at the talent level and you
10:28think, well, isn't that all there is to it? Get the talented guy out there and the rest
10:32will happen. Rarely is that all there is to it and I'm not being tried. So, uh, I think
10:37he could have helped though, because his ability to, uh, he, uh, uh, would have understood
10:42enough to, uh, and most of the areas he'd have been working in, he would have understood
10:47how to do it and he'd help us, uh, would have helped us cover, help them even with the young
10:52quarterback stay away from him. Now, another player that you have out there to cover and
10:56not too long ago got his own extension was Deron Bland. Why do you think that he has struggled
11:03so mightily this season? Yeah. Well, uh, uh, I know that, uh, we'd all love for him and no
11:11more than, than the people involved him and his coach, but, uh, uh, he had a, uh, a chance
11:19there to, uh, do a bland, which is intercept the ball in a key time. And, uh, uh, that, uh,
11:27was meaningful as it turned out. And, uh, we've just, uh, uh, uh, got a, he's got to continue
11:35to continue to, uh, work, to, uh, uh, play at the level we expect of him. And he got, uh,
11:43he's paid because of how he has played in the past. One of the things, uh, you can always
11:49bet on one of the surest things when you've seen them do it in the past, they can do it,
11:55uh, again, uh, if they haven't had physical diminishment of their skills or their, uh,
12:02physical skills. And he hasn't. I can, I just, I would love for a follow-up on that. Can you
12:09tell us more about that? Because he has had a world of injury problems and it does seem
12:14that potentially maybe he has had a physical diminishment of his skills. I don't think so.
12:20I don't think so. Uh, we're both playing doctor here and, uh, fair.
12:25You know, uh, uh, Dr. Jones doesn't think, uh, it's a diminishment of his skills. I just
12:31think, uh, uh, uh, we've, uh, he's, uh, uh, uh, uh, all I've, I have actually seen
12:37interceptions dropped before and you have to, we all have. And the ball is not necessarily,
12:44that's a great, uh, skill as a defensive player to be able to, uh, uh, catch that ball.
12:51That's not, uh, practiced, uh, or, uh, coming at you the same way it would be if you were
12:57a receiver. So, uh, uh, uh, that's one of his skills. Uh, uh, we couldn't have drawn
13:02it up and had him in better spot to do that. And, uh, we didn't get it. It was, uh,
13:07a game
13:08changer, but I'm going to roll right back over to the interior of our defense and say,
13:14that's where the, uh, uh, that, that was the game changing areas in the middle of that defense
13:21and physically in the, in my mind and the big boys. Makes sense there. A lot of people, Jerry,
13:27have been kind of disappointed with Jake Ferguson's play specifically, especially with a fiery
13:32Brevin Spanford behind him. Have you, have you been frustrated with the volume, uh, of lapses
13:37that Ferguson's had? No, that's, uh, that, uh, uh, is not typical of, uh, uh, him to, uh, uh,
13:48have those kinds of, uh, opportunities and not come up with it. He's the opposite. Uh, he's,
13:55uh, got, uh, uh, as good a heart and as good an insight as you could expect in a player.
14:01And
14:02so, uh, uh, uh, those were, uh, uh, uh, plays that aren't typical for him. You know, and, and I,
14:09I think we all love his heart and his drive and everything, but when you say play is not typical
14:14for him since the start of 2024, Jake Ferguson also has eight fumbles. So it does kind of feel
14:20like these have become more typical plays for him. Does it not? Well, uh, uh, if you say, uh,
14:28bad plays, which fumbles, uh, uh, balls off your hand, uh, those are plays that we would
14:36categorize like that. Uh, but, uh, uh, if you look at, uh, uh, a lot of, uh, what you see
14:44with Jake Ferguson, uh, you don't see enough that you would, uh, not be happy to have Jake
14:52Ferguson out there. So, uh, uh, I agree. This is a cold Monday morning to be talking about it.
14:59Uh, those drops for him, but, uh, uh, still, uh, I'm satisfied that, uh, uh, I like to see the
15:07ball
15:07going his way. I really do. And I can say that in the face of what we had yesterday.
15:13Jerry, I, I, I, you kind of use a couple of different words. Uh, last night when I saw you
15:18after the game, I felt like you kind of looked baffled. We were all kind of baffled by, by the
15:23way that that game went. And I kind of expected this morning with a lot of people, a lot of
15:28people
15:28out there are like, they want overwhelming board, broad sweeping changes to the coaching staff and
15:34some of the players. And I'm just kind of curious, are you sound like you're being real this morning
15:39about what your assessment is? Are you in a heads are going to roll kind of mood yet?
15:44No. And I didn't say that. I said that I wasn't last night because I was asked that specific
15:52question. So I'm, I'm consistent this morning with that. And, uh, a lot of it has, uh, to do
15:59with, uh, this is just not in the best interest of our team. Uh, that for what we've played five
16:07games, we have 12 more regular season games to go and hopefully playoff games to go.
16:12And, uh, we've got some of the best players. I think we've got one of the best quarterbacks
16:17in the game. He's standing tall, healthy. Uh, we've seen, uh, uh, that side of the ball
16:25around his skills, uh, do really good things. Uh, our area that we have been addressing almost
16:35for a year and a half now is on the defensive side of the ball in particular. That's not to
16:41diminish what we're doing on offense, but that defensive side of the ball is, uh, uh, certainly
16:49not producing to anything like the level that we thought we would be. And so a strong, strong
16:56analysis of how to take, uh, five games and make decisions to go forward to the sixth and
17:03beyond is what this is all about. And, uh, you've got to think now more than you do future.
17:10That's not an acquiring talent as much as it is how you address specifically practice,
17:17how you, this week, uh, of how you address, uh, uh, uh, how we approach, uh, playing Green
17:25Bay. Now, all of this, do you say we need better answers? We need an answer that sounds
17:31like it could, uh, uh, uh, solve it all. That's not there. That's just not there. Not that answer.
17:38Can you, uh, have some of these, uh, issues, uh, uh, go better for us and, uh, result in a
17:45winning
17:45game? Yes. And let me say this, this is football and this is what you do is get in and
17:53have these
17:54old awful Monday mornings or you have these weeks and you basically are supposed to supposed to in
18:02my regular business. You have much broader ways to have some successes or you have, uh, failures
18:12or diminished. What we do with the Dallas Cowboys clearly is reflected in the score immediately.
18:22And so that begs for answers that don't improve a trend this way or what have you. It's a give
18:31me
18:31some immediate answers. Uh, we have in place some immediate answers. Uh, we have not, uh, I've
18:40said again, we are certainly not, uh, moving in an improvement direction relative to that score.
18:50We can easily say that we've had some improvement individually or we've had some improvement, uh,
18:56uh, uh, philosophically or scheme wise. That's in question even today, but that's what we do.
19:04And that's what we should, and there should be addressing of everything that ended in that
19:09result, which was that score last night. Uh, I would love to get your insight year over year. What
19:15kind, what kind of improvements you've seen from the head coach? And do you think he's enough of a
19:20disciplinarian to succeed in this NFL world? Oh, yes, I do. Yes, I do. And I think he's got a
19:30good,
19:31uh, good field. He's, uh, he's, uh, uh, I'm glad, I'm glad, uh, we all should be glad that we've
19:41got
19:41his years of experience and his years of having these Monday mornings and, uh, we've got them to
19:48deal with right now. And I'll assure you it's active and it's, uh, it's, uh, dressing issues.
19:55Uh, I will say one more time. The only time that I've ever been with the Cowboys that we've made
20:03more changes with personnel on defense, that we've made more changes with coaching on defense,
20:09eight out of nine, that we've made more changes in the philosophy, what we're trying to scheme,
20:17if you will. The only time that that has been, uh, any more so was the first year and we
20:24won one
20:25football game and Jimmy Johnson, Dave Weinstein was the defensive coordinator, all outstanding coaches.
20:31But when you have this much change, then it shouldn't just make you, uh, uh, uh, just, uh,
20:40beyond comprehension that you've got some challenges to meld all of this together.
20:45On the other hand, we're optimistic, but the change is I wouldn't second guess at all from
20:51where we were three years ago, four years ago, nobody else would either.
20:55Now, one last thing unrelated to the game last night, and I don't know if you've already seen
21:00this, but former Dallas Cowboys player, he was an assistant coach here. Mike Ditka has passed away
21:08at the age of 86. And I don't know how close you were to him or how much you knew
21:14him as part of
21:15this former franchise, but I just wanted to see if we can get any thoughts from you about coach Ditka.
21:23First point. And it was a, uh, a personal point with him. He was married, uh, to a girl from
21:30my home
21:30state. And, uh, uh, we always smiled about that. The fact that, uh, uh, he just wore the, uh, persona
21:42of football the way that he did fact that he was a Dallas Cowboy and the fact that he enjoyed
21:49those
21:49great years and had such a personality reflection in his bear teams, coaching those bears as a coach,
21:59not, uh, uh, necessarily as a player, but as a coach make him, uh, a, uh, a real iconic figure
22:08in pro football in the NFL. And, um, I always, uh, uh, uh, got a, uh, a lot of, uh,
22:18just
22:19the moments that I would be with him when we'd go to meetings or go to, uh, league, uh, breaks.
22:26Uh,
22:26we saw a lot when, uh, uh, he was involved in my early years with the Cowboys. So, uh, we're
22:33going
22:33to miss him. Uh, he's, uh, if you like football, you're going to miss Mike Ditka. Well, we appreciate
22:39the time as always. Good, sir. We'll catch you again next week. Thanks guys. Bye.