00:00We bring to you Dallas Cowboys COO Stephen Jones. Good afternoon, sir.
00:07Good afternoon, guys.
00:08Now, I know we have a lot to talk about about the game, specifically yesterday,
00:12but a broader NFL question I've always wanted to know,
00:16what do you think has led to this evolution of the NFL trade deadline,
00:20especially these last few years where we're apt to see a lot more action across the league?
00:26Yeah, I just think it's evolved over time, and people have learned really the inner workings of the cap
00:35and feel more comfortable making deals that they probably didn't when we first got in the system.
00:43But in general, I think it's a great thing for the league.
00:46I think it's exciting for the fans.
00:48I think it's interesting to see how teams are looking at their teams
00:54in terms of either trying to improve them
00:57or maybe trying to focus more on the future and draft picks
01:01and cleaning up some cap space.
01:04I think everybody kind of shows you kind of what they're thinking at the time.
01:09So I think it's great for NFL fans, great for the individual teams and their fans.
01:17I think it's a plus.
01:18Have you guys gotten any calls about any players on y'all's team?
01:23We haven't.
01:24We really have not.
01:26It's been pretty quiet on our end.
01:27I mean, we're certainly making all the calls.
01:29We touch base with all 31 other teams.
01:32And, you know, who's available and who's, you know,
01:37who we might consider if there was somebody that made any sense to us.
01:42But, you know, right now it's pretty quiet on our front.
01:47Does it ever pick up right there at the last minute and you're like,
01:51this was kind of fun?
01:54Usually you're on to something that's building.
01:57And, you know, you kind of, if you will, sword fighting a little bit
02:01and just trying to see kind of where the other person is.
02:06If you have an interest in a player, they have an interest in your player.
02:09And then as you get closer to the deadline, then you know, hey,
02:13it's either time to, you know, move a little or move on.
02:18And so it's usually by now you're, you know,
02:24you're on to something that you're kind of keeping an eye on.
02:28I read where the Giants were looking at Jonathan Taylor there in Indy
02:33and moved on but didn't mean they couldn't come back in.
02:37So I was just reading the article.
02:39But I think that can be the case.
02:42You're kind of cool.
02:43Then last minute you decide to get back in it, you can.
02:47You know, you might have just kind of answered this question,
02:50but what is close to the deadline look like in your world?
02:53Because I'm like, we're 27 hours out.
02:55That feels pretty close.
02:56But in your mind, you might be like, we got like 90 minutes.
02:59That's plenty of time to make a deal.
03:02No, I think right now it's really going to,
03:04if you're really getting close to something,
03:06especially something really major.
03:08I got you.
03:10It's heating up, right?
03:12It's close to the deadline.
03:13It's time.
03:15Steven, after yesterday's game,
03:17CeeDee Lamb looked very, like he wasn't happy with the fumble.
03:20Like he was kind of still kicking himself about that.
03:23There was, you know, some celebration.
03:25How do you feel the tone should be after a win like that against the Colts?
03:32You know, I think it's something that you, you know,
03:35it's a learning experience.
03:37You know, I still think we've got a long ways to go.
03:40You know, we've got to learn to win.
03:41We've got to learn to close.
03:43And, you know, the game felt eerily similar to the week before as it was
03:48unfolding.
03:49And, you know, I just, I know Coach Schottenheimer feels that way.
03:54We've just got to do some better things.
03:56We had a big missed tackle that resulted in a long touchdown play,
04:00not unlike last week, and then had a long run the next series.
04:03And, you know, where we had a breakdown after, you know,
04:08for the most part playing good defense all day.
04:10It was probably still our best defensive effort of the year.
04:14I do see where we're improving.
04:17You know, we're still a little banged up.
04:20We'll hopefully get some more guys back.
04:22But, obviously, we had a tough day on the injury front yesterday.
04:26We'll see kind of what the final synopsis is here as the day goes.
04:30But I got banged up on both sides a little bit.
04:34But, you know, we just, you know, we're certainly definitely a work in progress.
04:39And certainly on defense, it feels like we're making the steps.
04:44I thought we ran the ball good yesterday.
04:46I thought we made some big plays.
04:48But we also, you know, had some drives that didn't end up the way, you know,
04:53you'd like to see them end up in terms of, you know,
04:56moving the ball down the field and scoring.
04:58And, you know, in this particular case, last week was no different closing the game out.
05:04We're just not getting that done right now.
05:07What do you make of the penalties yesterday and specifically the penalty with DeMarvion overshone?
05:15Because it does feel like that should be unacceptable for an NFL team.
05:20Yeah, it is.
05:21I mean, we take full responsibility for that.
05:23I know DeMarvion does.
05:25I know all our players know the rules.
05:28And I just think he got caught up in the moment.
05:31And it's not a good look.
05:33It's not a disciplined look.
05:34I think all our coaches would certainly, you know, say that.
05:39And I'm sure, you know, there's no one better than Demo at being a team guy
05:43and doing everything the right way.
05:46That was just a breakdown.
05:48I 100% agree with you.
05:49It wasn't a good look.
05:51Does it frustrate you at all that maybe the league's perception is the team is not disciplined?
05:56Do you care about that?
05:57Because obviously 14 penalties across the board yesterday, that was tough.
06:02Yeah, I mean, we're certainly not the best at being penalized.
06:06But there's more.
06:07I mean, there are teams in the league who get penalized more.
06:10And I don't think our officials serve on the competition committee or like that.
06:13I think they call what they see.
06:15I think those were, you know, they were foul.
06:22Some inconsistencies at times, which is just part of the human judgment.
06:27And one guy's look versus another guy's look from week to week.
06:30But those were obviously, I think they were correct calls.
06:35I'm not saying they weren't correct.
06:36But certainly it goes on a lot.
06:39The hand fighting that goes on between a receiver and a coverage player, you know, you see a lot of
06:45that.
06:46And it's just when does it rise to the level of being a foul?
06:51You know, those are tough ones.
06:52But, you know, is what it is.
06:54I mean, we certainly didn't play a disciplined game yesterday with 15 penalties.
06:58We have to be better than that.
06:59So, Stephen, Caleb Downs, I think we've all kind of been applauding his performance yesterday.
07:04Is that kind of like maybe the first time you've gotten to see what you really envisioned whenever you drafted
07:10him,
07:11that kind of a complete game from him?
07:14Yeah, I think you'll see more of that as our defense gets better.
07:18You know, I think, you know, as we start to play better defense, which we are,
07:24then the quarterbacks have to start making some tighter throws and tighter windows.
07:30And we're certainly getting better pressure.
07:33You know, you felt that yesterday.
07:35And, you know, good things start to happen.
07:38And certainly the pick in the game was outstanding.
07:41And then, of course, you know, his big blitz and sack.
07:45I don't think Jones ever saw him coming.
07:47And that could have easily been a sack fumble.
07:50Yes.
07:55And the games are even going to show up even more as we play better defense.
08:00I know there's still eight games to go.
08:03So, mathematically, it's not like this.
08:05But did you roll into that game yesterday against the Colts and think this is probably a must win?
08:11Yeah.
08:12I mean, like I said, I'm not into much until it's mathematics.
08:15I got you.
08:16Certainly.
08:17We need those games.
08:19I mean, we needed the game the week before.
08:21We needed – I mean, it's hard to win in this league.
08:23And when you put yourself in a position maybe to, you know, to win a game and then you don't,
08:29it's certainly difficult.
08:32You know, it felt like we put ourselves in a position to beat the Cardinals and we didn't.
08:36You got to give them credit for getting it done.
08:38And you got to give credit to Indy for fighting until the end and, you know,
08:42almost doing the same thing to us.
08:44Steven, a minute ago you were talking about the running game, how effective it was.
08:48Goodson had some pretty significant carries throughout this game.
08:51Would you – do you envision a little more of a 60-40 split for him and Javante
08:56to kind of keep Javante's legs, you know, going well as well as Goodson getting more opportunities?
09:04Yeah.
09:05I mean, he's certainly earning those opportunities.
09:07We've got our fingers crossed right now on the injury front with him.
09:10He certainly – you know he came out and, you know, it's a real injury.
09:15But my hat's off to him more that he came back in and ran his ass off, ran hard.
09:21And he's got a real injury that, unfortunately, he's probably going to miss some time with.
09:25Dang it, that stinks.
09:27And I know you said usually you don't have a better idea of the injury report until later in the
09:33day.
09:33I actually wanted to ask about two guys who were not able to go yesterday,
09:38Joey Porter Jr. and George Pickens.
09:40Shoddy kind of made it sound like this might be another scenario this week
09:44where we won't know until toward the end of the week if they're going to be able to go.
09:48Is that the way you understand it as well?
09:52It's probably a fair summary of it.
09:56I think we've just got to get them back out there and get them going again
09:59and see how they're coming along.
10:02And obviously two great players like that, you want them on the field.
10:05And certainly can do a lot to help you win a football game.
10:11And we'll just have to see how the week goes.
10:15And certainly we're not the only team in the league who's fighting through injuries.
10:20So that's just part of the game we play.
10:23But we're certainly going to be having to really see what our injury situation is this week.
10:29We're going to have some challenges, it looks like.
10:31But is there a concern, and you might not know at this moment,
10:35is there concern that Goodson could be like an IR candidate?
10:40We don't know that yet.
10:42That is too early.
10:43But it's a significant injury to the point where the trainers really were hats off to him
10:48for wanting to go back in and play.
10:50And he went back in and played and played hard.
10:52And so we've just got to really get the details of it
10:58before we can really speculate on the link.
11:00I was also kind of interested in your thoughts on P.J. Locke being able to make it back out
11:06on the field,
11:07maybe even this year with a couple of concussions.
11:09Or is there another process to go with there?
11:12Well, we'll go through the process, and he'll be evaluated.
11:15And they'll make a decision that's in his best interest
11:18and that Locke feels good about, and everybody feels good about it.
11:23Like I said, unfortunately, we're talking in the middle of the day,
11:28and these things really don't know about them in their totality
11:33until at a minimum the end of the day.
11:36And sometimes you don't really have a great field until you see how the week goes.
11:40Are you able to tell us any more, like just generically,
11:43about what all the concussion protocol entails?
11:46And does that change when a player may have had back-to-back concussions over the last two weeks?
11:53Oh, yeah.
11:54It's taken into an account for sure.
11:56And that's part of it.
11:59I mean, I think I'm not a doctor, guys,
12:01so I don't want to get outside my lane here.
12:03But it's my understanding they take everything into an account,
12:07and they've got the process that they go through on how they advise a person who's in protocol.
12:16And the league, I think, working with our medical team,
12:20has done a great job with coming up with protocols that protect our players.
12:27But did you ever want to be a doctor?
12:29Oh.
12:30No, that was never in my card.
12:33I was never going to be Dr. Jones.
12:37That wasn't something that I laid awake at night hoping I could get done one day.
12:43But I have nothing but the greatest respect for the men and women who have the doctor in front of
12:49their name.
12:50That's a little amusing to me, for sure,
12:53because it does feel like at times Jerry does take on the mantle of Dr. Jones, does it not?
12:58He puts on a lot of hats.
13:00But there are other doctors in other areas that aren't medical doctors,
13:04and maybe he's referring to that.
13:07That is a good point.
13:09All right.
13:09Thank you for the insight on the game, on the trade deadline, and everything in between.
13:13We'll catch up with you again next week.
13:17Thank you, gentlemen.
13:17Thank you, gentlemen.
13:17Thank you, gentlemen.
