- 17 hours ago
Jerry Jones joined Shan, RJ, and Bobby following the Cowboys Monday Night win. Jones discussed the run game, defensive struggles, Joey Porter Jr., Schotty''s playcalling, Troy Aikman, and more.
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00:00Good morning, Jerry. How are you?
00:02Hey, morning, guys. Walking on the cloud.
00:06Good to be on with you, Sean, RJ, Bobby.
00:10Congratulations on the victory.
00:11We were just talking about Michael Irvin beating you guys up up there
00:15after Stephen A. Smith sat down.
00:18Do you kick Stephen A. out of there early on?
00:21What are the rules for watching a game next to you?
00:24You have to have everyone sat the same?
00:26You're not allowed to root out loud?
00:28Like the press box, did you kick Stephen A. out?
00:30What are the rules for watching the game right there with you?
00:33No, I didn't kick him out.
00:36We saw each other before the game.
00:38I said, come on up if you feel like it.
00:40He does.
00:41Of course, you know, he was before ESPN for 17 years.
00:47He was a sports man there in Philadelphia for 17 years.
00:53So it was quite a thing for him to come up there and sit there with us
00:59and, in effect, go out through the – sit there during the game.
01:04And we had what you normally might think.
01:06We were talking about the plays, looking at the offensive line.
01:10At that point when he was in there, I was telling him, I said,
01:14boy, our whole thing here is to establish a run.
01:17We've got to stick with this run.
01:18And, of course, we were at that time early in, and it was undecided.
01:25And sticking with the run was what we did.
01:28But, no, it was a great visit with him.
01:30We had a fan there, and she was a beautiful lady.
01:34And she was probably 55 years old.
01:38She had a beautiful cowboy sweater on the sideline.
01:43And she wore that Stephen out over at his discussions on his shows about the Cowboys.
01:52Just wore him out.
01:54And I'd encourage her early to put it on him, and she put it on him good.
01:59He was looking for coming.
02:01Well, you created a perfect segue.
02:04Jerry, the story of this game to us is your offensive line blowing away.
02:08Jay, their D tackles, which are really fantastic players, and Javante Williams with a career night.
02:15How did the run game get going like that?
02:19Well, you've hit it.
02:21When you can block them up the way we were, then, man, a lot of things happen.
02:28We've heard that over and over again.
02:30Again, this gives Dak every opportunity to make those plays and create some options against the defense.
02:39We had it going in full-blown prospect what we want to be.
02:45It was there last night.
02:47You saw some great play by our outside folks, our receivers.
02:52They blocked well as well.
02:55But, boy, I am proud of that offensive line.
02:58When you can move them out like that, and you're right, Philadelphia's got an outstanding defensive line.
03:04When you can move them out, when you can get running room like that,
03:06you've got a running back that knows how to find those soft spots, which is his forte.
03:12He does.
03:13He just has a lean.
03:15It reminds me the way that he can find soft spot and power through tackles and make things happen.
03:22Reminds me of the strength and power that Emmitt Smith showed.
03:26And you always get in trouble when you start making these comparisons.
03:29But that was a great night for him, a great night for us.
03:33Jerry, you mentioned there wanting to get the run game going and how important that is.
03:37Do you think that for you guys to be successful, you need to be thought of as a run-first
03:42football team
03:43or a team that establishes the run ahead of anything else?
03:45Yeah, I do.
03:47And that lets us have the opportunity to get back under center a lot more.
03:56And that's a big key, too.
03:59That presents a different defensive challenge for the opponent if he can get under center a lot.
04:06And we saw that happen acceptably well.
04:10So, overall, I had hoped, although we know they were dealing with a quarterback situation,
04:19having a new player in there.
04:23Still, if you were before the game last week, if you heard Shoddy, if you heard them draw it up,
04:31what they want to do, how they want to play the game, they got it done.
04:35And they pretty much stayed the farm.
04:37So, that's what we've got to have.
04:39And we can play these games our way.
04:44We overcame some pretty serious penalties out there early.
04:48And we're still in a position to stick to the running game.
04:53So, I think all of this game, especially on offense,
04:59showed how if we get to dictate how we want the games to look like.
05:05Jerry Jones joining us here, 105 through the fan.
05:07C.D. Lamb had a couple of touchdowns, some really nice catches.
05:11He's been fantastic this year.
05:13Is this the best you've seen him play?
05:17Yes.
05:18Yes.
05:19I think if you looked last night and you looked at all the games this year,
05:25it is he's taking full advantage of what Pickens means on the other side.
05:32And both of them blocked well.
05:34And all of our receivers blocked well.
05:37And that's credit to coaching.
05:41And that's a point of emphasis.
05:44Sitting up there with Michael, he knew better than anybody living what a receiver has to do
05:50to earn the right to get a ball coming his way.
05:53And they played that way last night, the receivers.
05:56Jerry, Dak had three beautiful touchdowns.
05:59The one to Pickens was a masterpiece.
06:02But he did miss some throws.
06:03He's done it over the past couple weeks.
06:06And we're like, he makes those throws.
06:08Is he banged up with a hand or ribs or something that's causing him to be
06:13just a little bit off versus the Dak that we're used to, MVP-type form?
06:17Well, I wouldn't think there's enough that he's banged up enough to get into being off on his throws.
06:29But he, I just, when I look at how other quarterbacks play,
06:37when I look at how they throw the ball, Dak is unique in his way.
06:45But, yes, I can't say enough about what he meant to stay in there
06:50and the throws that he did make.
06:52We just have got to realize that a lot of times they've got something to do with it, too.
07:00Although we didn't lose a yard on our offensive line,
07:04that probably still doesn't reflect that he's got to sit there
07:08and not only get the guy and get it to the right one for how the defense is playing,
07:13but he's got to get it out of there and help his protection.
07:19And he did that last night.
07:20So I don't have any criticism of where he went with the ball or threw the ball.
07:24Jerry Jones right here on a Victory Tuesday,
07:27brought to you by your North Texas Ford Dealers.
07:29Ford is the best in Texas.
07:31Jerry, what other type of adjustments did you guys want to make
07:34or did you do in terms of roster tinkering or green dots or reps
07:40that really made a difference last night that you guys played around with?
07:44Well, the obvious one is Overshaw.
07:46And, man, what a serious turnover.
07:51We're working to try to get more of those this year.
07:54But, boy, did he pick a good time to say, hello, I'm back.
07:59He made a play that is typical of what he does the best,
08:05and that is he can really make great plays.
08:09He's wired to be that kind of player.
08:13So I know that all fans thought, boy, if he was ever going to be recognized
08:20that he's on the field, which is the first time he's been out there in weeks,
08:25then hello, Overshaw.
08:27That was a great interception.
08:29Timely.
08:30That game could have really been in balance had he not made that interception.
08:36Jerry, on Overshaw, really quickly, does it give you any sort of trepidation
08:41or any other sort of sense of concern that somebody who's that talented
08:47and does that much for you on the field is also somebody who has that much trouble
08:50staying on the field consistently with just his injury history?
08:53You know, availability, being able to stay on that field is a huge part of any player's career.
09:03And those that are unfortunate enough to not be able to be counted on because of injury,
09:13they are compromised.
09:15He certainly has had his share of injury that's kept him off the field in his time in the NFL.
09:22But let's hope that that's behind us, knock on wood, and he gets to stay out there
09:31because he really can.
09:33He is the type player that whether it's a sack, he's outstanding on just big plays.
09:42And I think that, again, he should be really in the prime of his career.
09:50And let's keep our fingers crossed he can stay out there.
09:53Jerry Jones with us here on 105 Through the Fan.
09:55Jerry, what are your thoughts on the early returns you're getting out of Joey Porter Jr.,
09:59who three games in seems to just be fitting right in with your defense?
10:04Well, you saw him make that knockdown on that sideline.
10:08He is a, we call a very common term, shutdown corner.
10:16He's got it.
10:17Boy, he's got the physical skills, and he's got the ability to do everything you want to have.
10:24And he's the kind of corner that ultimately they don't want to go to that side.
10:29And when you get one of those, that's everybody's dream,
10:33then you can really play another way of aligning your defense and counting on your defense.
10:42It looks like that Joey's that type of player.
10:47Jerry Jones right here on Sean RJ and Bobby, 105 Through the Fan.
10:51Jerry, I don't even have a question for this.
10:53I just decided last night while I was throwing and breaking things,
10:57I just need to vent to you as a fan and you react to it.
11:00But defensively, I felt encouraged after the Green Bay game.
11:04And then their first drive with the backup and all their missing pieces,
11:07and then coming out in the third quarter.
11:10And I'm just, I don't understand how we can't get that level of improvement defensively
11:16because I don't feel like you guys can reach where you want to go
11:19with the defense even playing anything close to this.
11:23Are you throwing things?
11:24Are you cursing?
11:25And I'm saying, how much longer can Jerry and Steven tolerate the defense
11:29giving up these chunks and playing like this?
11:32The answer is play like we played on the offensive side of the ball.
11:38That is our answer.
11:40The defense is really not where we expected it to be.
11:48But we can win and we can get where we want to go with that offensive side of the ball.
11:55And that's where we've got a real emphasis on proven players that can do things
12:01that we know how to do.
12:03We also have an outstanding offensive play caller and our head coach.
12:10And that's our strength.
12:12If you look at one down to it, you've got Dak, you've got the receivers,
12:17you see that we've got a very good running back group.
12:22And we have one of the best offensive lines in my mind.
12:26I'm looking at personnel.
12:27And it's strong.
12:29And the most disappointed you'll see me is when that side of the ball isn't clicking.
12:35Over on the other side, it is evolving.
12:39Probably we all were too ambitious to think that you could have the kind of better results
12:44than what you're talking about.
12:46But that's what we are.
12:48We are.
12:49We can get better.
12:51We have the potential to get better.
12:53We've got players over there that are talented,
12:57as good an overall group talent-wise as we've had in several years.
13:01So, our challenge here is to maintain.
13:05Don't let that game get in a situation where we can't run that ball.
13:10And you do that if you get several scores down.
13:13But that's our team this year.
13:14And we can, in my mind, we can win it with this combination.
13:19And a significant but not unattainable defensive progress.
13:26Do you feel you need to make a move on the defensive side of the ball,
13:30another move in addition to the Porter one already, to get somebody in here?
13:34Yeah, I'm sorry.
13:35I almost interrupted you.
13:36But if I saw it, if we could do it where we sit right now, I would add to it.
13:44But the adding to it is a big statement.
13:49It's unlikely we'll get the opportunity from outside coming in.
13:54But if it's there, I'll do it.
13:56Jerry, we've talked about communication defensively and new players, roster turnover.
14:02You've added to the secondary.
14:03We love Porter.
14:04Do you think pass rush, is that like the biggest glaring problem or issue with the defense right now?
14:11Or is it communication or something else?
14:13No, I think we all pretty much see we need more effective pressure.
14:20And we'll continue to work on it.
14:23And by the way, with what we have talent-wise, we can get better with the pressure.
14:31And we can do a few more schemes.
14:36Those kind of leave you vulnerable when you blitz those types of things.
14:42But that's in the cards.
14:45We've got the coaching that have the ability to think like that and are thinking like that.
14:52So we must continue to, both from scheme standpoint and both from standpoint of player technique.
15:02We are seeing what works best for us with this personnel.
15:07We have the ability to adjust within the defense.
15:11We'll see how it goes.
15:12But if we keep that offense at this level, which we can, if we keep it at this level,
15:17that will give us a chance to work through this and be right where we would have thought we could
15:25be early there late in the season.
15:28And we can get it done that way.
15:30Jerry, there were some game management and some play-calling issues that we've talked about today.
15:37A couple of third and longs where they were running plays, not putting the ball in Dak's hands,
15:43maybe not giving him a chance to make a play.
15:45And the end of half, you get the ball around the Philadelphia 40.
15:49There's 35 seconds left.
15:50They've got two timeouts.
15:51They opt not to call a timeout, and it really kind of prevents you from a third-down opportunity to
15:58score a touchdown late.
16:00Are you satisfied with the game management right now?
16:05Well, I know we all know that watch the game, that play, and that decision.
16:11I'm sure our guys, if they, this morning, could have that back.
16:16I don't think at a time that I've been in the NFL for 35 years, going on 36,
16:23that I've ever seen such a realistic game-like conditions.
16:36I don't think I've ever seen the play callers or the decision-makers criticize more.
16:41The game, what we have out there, has become more complicated.
16:47And so I don't think we're the only one that you can take several plays during a game
16:52and question it just because of the way the game is set up today.
16:57Jerry, not calling the timeout there, what is the process that goes in?
17:03Is that Schottenheimer not calling it?
17:05Is Ryan Feeder in the headset telling him to call a timeout, telling him not to call a timeout?
17:10How does that work?
17:12It's ultimately Schottenheimer.
17:16And one of the things that the offensive play caller, in our case, is our offensive coordinator.
17:23If you don't install, you can't call.
17:27And so he installs as well as make the call.
17:36Where probably, if you think about it, this is his first head coaching job.
17:41And probably, if anything, over the course of this year, and maybe even last year,
17:47but it wasn't quite as glaring, is the ground that he's trying to cover being a new head coach.
17:55On his own, his allocation of where his time needs to be.
18:00The offensive coordinator, I think I've said it, is the busiest guy in town.
18:04He is the busiest.
18:05Well, if he is spending a lot of time with the things that head coaches do,
18:12then you've compromised some of that.
18:15He's making his adjustments to where he's delegating more in those other areas
18:20so that he can make sure that he does the best job you can do as offensive coordinator.
18:26Since I've been in this thing, I've been told by at least 50% of the people,
18:31make your head coach a walk-around head coach.
18:34Especially don't have him over on the offensive side of the ball making the calls.
18:38That's not what we want.
18:40We would take away.
18:41We've got an outstanding play call.
18:44We've got one that has years of experience calling plays.
18:48And we have an outstanding offensive personnel.
18:54Zero.
18:55If you're going to do anything different when you wake up and you're sub-500,
19:00you say focus more on offense, delegate more of the places.
19:05And that's what we're doing.
19:06Jerry Jones brought to you by your North Texas Ford dealers.
19:09Ford is the best in Texas.
19:10Coach was much shorter than usual in the post-game presser.
19:15We get him every Friday.
19:17You know how much we love him with the interviews.
19:19He's the best that we've had in our 15 years.
19:22But he seemed like he was a little bit edgier last night and short in talking about even a win
19:28on the road.
19:29Has coach been a little edgy lately?
19:32No, I think really, this is my opinion, is that he's just internally, which is where you make your adjustments.
19:41I call it the mirror.
19:43I think he's just even carrying on through what he's doing with press conferences.
19:49All of those things he's carrying on through.
19:52His focus, his real time and brain time needs to be on moving that ball on the offensive side of
20:02the ball.
20:02And that's good.
20:03We're structured to do that.
20:05We've got some great people that can pick up slack any place else on the team that he was working.
20:11But to focus on this offensive side of the ball, that's our ticket this year for our head coach.
20:17Jerry, last one for you.
20:19The entire world is talking about you and Troy Aikman.
20:22Troy was moved and touched by what you said about him at the owners' meetings.
20:26Then he told Mike Fisher he would love to sit down with you, not even to talk about a possible
20:31role in the organization,
20:32but just to talk with you.
20:34He expressed a lot of admiration.
20:35It looked like you guys had a fantastic or very pleasant, nice conversation yesterday on the field.
20:41Before the game, and we know how much you think of him.
20:45We don't think you would ever bring Troy in for a major significant role with the Cowboys if he wanted
20:51to do that.
20:52Would you?
20:54Yeah.
20:55Yes, I could and would.
21:01It's that simple because I do think that much of him with his basic command
21:09and understanding and knowledge of NFL football.
21:13And so he certainly is qualified to do any of the things that have been mentioned.
21:21And I think he's outstanding at what he focuses on right now,
21:26and that's giving the story and the narration of the football games of all teams.
21:33So let me make it real clear.
21:37Troy Aikman is, first of all, just getting started in his life.
21:40I don't know of anyone that's played or any part of football that has had any more success off the
21:49field than Troy.
21:50Troy Aikman is a successful guy because he is one of the hardest-working, most focused people that I've ever
21:59been around.
22:00Now, when you're around each other, a part of that makeup can make it.
22:06We can have your ups and downs.
22:08But I think the world of him, I've seen his image and had it in my eyes since I walked
22:16in the NFL.
22:17So he's outstanding, and the answer is, the answer is not that necessarily we're going to do something more direct
22:27with the team at this time.
22:29But don't rule it out.
22:31It's very possible.
22:32Well, hot damn, Jerry Jones, you just made today even freaking better.
22:36Congratulations.
22:36Thank you for the gold as always, and we'll hear you Friday.
22:40Excellent.