00:00We bring to you our Dallas Cowboys COO, Stephen Jones. Good afternoon, sir.
00:06Good afternoon, gentlemen.
00:08Now, we've been asking fans this throughout the day, so what is your game day routine,
00:12and do you have any particular game day superstitions?
00:17You know, usually we like to get out to the stadium about a couple hours early and
00:23have one last visit with Shoddy and then kind of check in with the trainers,
00:30and then we head to the field and, you know, visit with the other team's personnel and owners
00:40and then kind of watch the team warm up and then head up to the suite, and the rest is
00:46history.
00:48Do you hate knowing that the camera will be on you at all times in the suite,
00:52so if you have any sort of reaction to, oh, look at that reaction right there.
00:58Yeah, I mean, you understand anything you do up there can be caught on camera, but
01:04no, you just kind of get used to it over time, and you kind of, you know, for the most
01:11part,
01:11you know there's going to be some highs and lows, and try to stay steady in the boat in terms
01:16of
01:17your emotions, and I know, you know, like most of these games, they usually
01:22pull down to the fourth quarter, so it's going to be all four quarters, and
01:28even some games, when you think you might have it, you never know one way or the other.
01:35Some games, you may think you're out of it, and then you make your way back into it.
01:40But, you know, all you have to do is look at the games yesterday, and certainly interesting
01:45to see how all those games unfold.
01:48Now, I've always been fascinated by these answers from both players and, obviously, front office.
01:54The Cowboys are a very in-demand team when it comes to national and primetime games.
01:59You've got Monday Night Football tonight, of course.
02:01Do you have a favorite time slot for the team to play in?
02:08Yeah, not necessarily.
02:09I think they're all unique.
02:10I think we've hit them all already this year, including international.
02:14I think we played Thursday night.
02:16I think we played, you know, Sunday at noon and 3, the 3 o'clock time slot.
02:23We played Sunday night, and we played Monday night.
02:25So we've already had the full gambit, but that's something that kind of comes with the territory
02:31in the Cowboys.
02:32But I wouldn't say there's a favorite.
02:34Each one have their benefits when you play at noon.
02:39You get to watch all the rest of the games and have yours in the rearview mirror, hopefully
02:44a W, and then certainly the 3 is a great time slot.
02:50You kind of can pay attention to the noon games a little bit and then get ready for your game.
02:55And same thing goes for Sunday night.
02:58Monday night is probably the toughest one because you've got a long day.
03:02Monday night and Thursday night are probably the tougher ones because you're waiting around
03:07all day to play and really no games to watch.
03:10Yeah.
03:11The fun lead-up is having some games to watch for sure.
03:14Now, Steve, we've heard all the stories about this back in the past, and you were there.
03:19You probably know better than any of us getting Michael Irvin going early in a game.
03:25Do you feel like that George Pickens just kind of needs a little bit of that?
03:29He needs to get the ball a little early in the game.
03:32I wouldn't put just George.
03:34I'd put CD in that category as well.
03:36They both want to touch the ball and get zeroed in.
03:40And I know we do make an effort with Shadi and Dak to, you know, to do the best we
03:47can
03:47at making sure that happens is get them a touch or a catch there early in the game.
03:53And they seem to feed off that.
03:55But that's true.
03:56That was the same with Des.
03:57It was the same with Michael.
03:59You know, I think that's just typical for these top receivers is to get them those touches
04:05early and then watch them work and watch them feed the rest of the game.
04:10And it's wild, too, because you're also trying to figure out that balance for your run game.
04:14And that's the other part is, is there a fix for what this run game is ailing?
04:18Or does the offensive coordinator, head coach, just need to stay stubborn in it?
04:23I think you've got to stay stubborn in it.
04:25I think you hear most coaches talk when they get away from the run.
04:29They, you know, it seems like most of them regret it.
04:34You know, I think, you know, at the end of the day, you've got to have persistence
04:39and make sure that you're keeping up with, you know, your, you know, run to pass ratio.
04:46And, you know, I think it's just staying committed to it.
04:48And, you know, I can see, you know, certainly with us, with having the weapons that we have,
04:54you know, with CD and George and Dak, being able to get it to them, a veteran quarterback.
05:01And then on top of that, having guys like Flo and Ferguson, you know, you're tempted to go there,
05:09especially if you happen to get behind.
05:12But I think it just has to be a discipline and a commitment.
05:16And certainly we talked about this week.
05:18Now, speaking of that offense and those weapons, I don't know if you put a particular number on it,
05:24but CD Lamb said this offense should be averaging 30 points a game.
05:28Is that essentially how you see it as well?
05:32Well, we were certainly doing that in the first four games.
05:36And so I think we've, you know, certainly capable of it.
05:41But at the same time, we've got to understand we're going to keep getting different looks.
05:45People adjust week to week.
05:47You just have to stay disciplined in your convictions.
05:51And, you know, good things will happen to this offense.
05:55But certainly, you know, what we've shown the last couple of weeks, we're sure, you know,
06:01struggling against some of these pressure packages and the numbers of them,
06:06I'm sure we'll get another heavy dose of it tonight.
06:11Do you feel like those struggles offensively just these last two weeks against pressure
06:15have kind of obscured some of the strides that the defense has made these last two weeks?
06:22No, I just think our defense is a work in progress.
06:26You know, I've said it all along after the first game or two and stuck with it.
06:33You know, we were fired up about our personnel, fired up about our new coaching staff.
06:39But we also got to keep in mind it's our fourth staff in four years on the defensive side of
06:45the ball
06:45and a lot of new faces.
06:46So we were probably a little on the optimistic side, but in terms of the full body of work
06:54at the end of the season, still feel convicted and have resolve that between Christian Parker
07:01and his staff and the personnel on the defensive side of the ball,
07:06that we do feel like we can get better each week.
07:09And then on offense, we've got to just stay disciplined.
07:13And I think we've shown that we can be a great offense most of last year.
07:18And obviously the first two-thirds of the season this year, you know, we've just got to stick with it
07:25and, you know, play good football, execute, and win football games.
07:32And certainly we get our first opportunity to come out of this tonight.
07:38Can you kind of describe the environment outside of the stadium in Philly?
07:42Do they really throw eggs at all the buses?
07:46Well, you get a lot of interesting looks, a lot of interesting signals.
07:51Certainly I think they're, you know, confirmed.
07:56There may have been some things thrown at the bus.
07:59But, you know, that's part of going on the road.
08:01Those Philadelphia fans have a lot of passion, and it's just not outside the stadium.
08:08We get some interesting looks and some interesting signals inside the stadium.
08:13So, you know, they're certainly a passionate crowd about the Eagles
08:19and not too concerned about what the visiting team
08:24and certainly the visiting fans feel about their actions and interactions.
08:29Hopefully no hefty gals put it up against the car window after the game, though, you know.
08:37Well, that wasn't in Philly.
08:39Right, right. That's what I'm saying, yeah.
08:42I often wonder.
08:44It could come from, there's a lot of places with a lot of passionate fans
08:50that like to have a good time before the game
08:53and probably sometimes do things they might not normally do.
08:57Right.
08:57Well, we appreciate the time, especially on a game day.
09:01Hope y'all can get that win tonight and kickstart this whole rest of the season.
09:06Thank you, guys. Appreciate it.
