- Messages
- 57,933
- Reaction score
- 8,708
Mixed Feelings
Jones Addresses Many Topics From Mobile
Nick Eatman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
Monday was the start of a full week of Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, Ala, preparing for Saturday'Mobile, Alabama - Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has often said he enjoys coming to the Senior Bowl as much as any postseason activity. More than anything, it's an official start to the offseason as his coaches, scouts and front-office personnel gather here in Mobile, Ala., to get the first glimpse of the players participating in Saturday's annual all-star game.
But as excited as Jones was on Monday, it came on the heels of what he calls one of the toughest days of the year - watching the conference championship games. And for the last 17 seasons now, Jones hasn't been included in the NFC Championship Game. More than anything, watching the Giants outlast the 49ers didn't sit well with the Cowboys' owner, especially knowing his team was so close to knocking off the Giants and likely eliminating them from postseason contention.
"That's tough to take, watching those team play yesterday," Jones said. "We were glued watching both games. Really great ballgames. Always not a fun day from my perspective, watching those games."
When asked if watching New York go from a 7-7 team in mid-December to advancing to the Super Bowl to face the Patriots makes him excited about where the Cowboys stand, Jones wouldn't go that far.
"They're frankly what I had hoped that we were going to be," Jones said of the Giants. "And that is a team that had good days and bad days but near the end, took off on a run and really made improvement. They did it and we didn't. We went the other way."
More specifically, Jones credited the Giants' constant defensive pressure, but said the difference to New York's turnaround was the play of its quarterback. Then again, he also said that's an area the Cowboys don't need much improvement.
"Their quarterback play, as a team they got better and better near the end," Jones said. "That's obvious. We didn't. We had counted on getting better and we didn't. We went the other way. It was a complete team effort on their part and we didn't play well enough to compete. And I don't know if we had been competing, if we had gotten into the playoffs, to the level the Giants are. I'm giving them their credit, and they deserve it.
"I thought Romo was competing at a level that would've given us that opportunity but the rest of us need to play better and get better before we can really jell the way the Giants are."
So how do the Cowboys improve and get to that level once again? Jones said it starts in the offseason, with events such as the Senior Bowl and the scouting combine next month in Indianapolis, along with free agency in March and the NFL Draft in late April.
Jones discussed a wide range of topics Monday following the first practice. Here are some of the highlights of the owner's state-of-the-union discussion with Dallas-Fort Worth reporters.
•When asked about some of the problem areas that need to be improved, Jones volunteered the defensive backfield. "In the secondary, I think we'll get better. We'll very likely have new faces over there," Jones said. "How many, I can't tell you. But I know we'll have some new faces."
Later on, Jones applauded the play of young cornerbacks such as Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick, obviously omitting Terence Newman, who still has two years left on his contract, but could be released to save about $2 million on this year's cap.
•Speaking of Newman, Jones tried not to isolate him as the only player who struggled down the stretch, but said it was an "ability to get the job done" and "skill-level drop-off" when asked to put his finger on why Newman's play dipped so dramatically in the final month of the season.
•While Jones was very adamant back in training camp about playing younger players, he admitted Monday the team might have thrown the young offensive line to the wolves too early.
"We may have gotten a little overzealous with some players in the middle of the offensive line," Jones said, relying heavily on youngsters Tyron Smith, Bill Nagy, Phil Costa and Kevin Kowalski. "We have to give them a chance to grow and progress, but we have to get protection in the middle for Tony (Romo)."
•In relation to the salary cap, Jones said he's excited where his team stands heading into the offseason, especially since it was initially thought this would be a year in which the team would have to eat so much "dead money," which would handicap them in signing new players. Jones said that isn't the case.
"We've done an outstanding job. I give Stephen (Jones) a lot of credit," Jerry said of his son, the team's director of player personnel. "This is a year we thought it would be Armageddon for us - this year. But we were able to do some things with the cap that gives us a chance to have some room to improve this team this year. And we will use it."
•One of the Cowboys' most significant free agents is wide receiver Laurent Robinson, who had a career season with 11 touchdowns, mostly as the team's third receiver. While Robinson has been quoted as saying he would like to return, Jerry Jones isn't solely counting on that alone to get him re-signed for 2012.
"I wouldn't be that presumptuous, but he sure had a great year," Jones said. "We think the receiver position is a strength for us. We've got a couple of young guys that we're proud of, too. I'm really appreciative of what he brought to us this year. He had a real outstanding year."
•Not only did head coach Jason Garrett admit he hasn't spoken to Dez Bryant since his latest off-the-field incident that had him momentarily detained by Miami police after an altercation at a club, Jones also said he has yet to speak with his young wide receiver. "I haven't talked to him about it, "Jones said. "I don't know details of it from his perspective. But I'm aware of it."
Jones Addresses Many Topics From Mobile
Nick Eatman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
Monday was the start of a full week of Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, Ala, preparing for Saturday'Mobile, Alabama - Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has often said he enjoys coming to the Senior Bowl as much as any postseason activity. More than anything, it's an official start to the offseason as his coaches, scouts and front-office personnel gather here in Mobile, Ala., to get the first glimpse of the players participating in Saturday's annual all-star game.
But as excited as Jones was on Monday, it came on the heels of what he calls one of the toughest days of the year - watching the conference championship games. And for the last 17 seasons now, Jones hasn't been included in the NFC Championship Game. More than anything, watching the Giants outlast the 49ers didn't sit well with the Cowboys' owner, especially knowing his team was so close to knocking off the Giants and likely eliminating them from postseason contention.
"That's tough to take, watching those team play yesterday," Jones said. "We were glued watching both games. Really great ballgames. Always not a fun day from my perspective, watching those games."
When asked if watching New York go from a 7-7 team in mid-December to advancing to the Super Bowl to face the Patriots makes him excited about where the Cowboys stand, Jones wouldn't go that far.
"They're frankly what I had hoped that we were going to be," Jones said of the Giants. "And that is a team that had good days and bad days but near the end, took off on a run and really made improvement. They did it and we didn't. We went the other way."
More specifically, Jones credited the Giants' constant defensive pressure, but said the difference to New York's turnaround was the play of its quarterback. Then again, he also said that's an area the Cowboys don't need much improvement.
"Their quarterback play, as a team they got better and better near the end," Jones said. "That's obvious. We didn't. We had counted on getting better and we didn't. We went the other way. It was a complete team effort on their part and we didn't play well enough to compete. And I don't know if we had been competing, if we had gotten into the playoffs, to the level the Giants are. I'm giving them their credit, and they deserve it.
"I thought Romo was competing at a level that would've given us that opportunity but the rest of us need to play better and get better before we can really jell the way the Giants are."
So how do the Cowboys improve and get to that level once again? Jones said it starts in the offseason, with events such as the Senior Bowl and the scouting combine next month in Indianapolis, along with free agency in March and the NFL Draft in late April.
Jones discussed a wide range of topics Monday following the first practice. Here are some of the highlights of the owner's state-of-the-union discussion with Dallas-Fort Worth reporters.
•When asked about some of the problem areas that need to be improved, Jones volunteered the defensive backfield. "In the secondary, I think we'll get better. We'll very likely have new faces over there," Jones said. "How many, I can't tell you. But I know we'll have some new faces."
Later on, Jones applauded the play of young cornerbacks such as Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick, obviously omitting Terence Newman, who still has two years left on his contract, but could be released to save about $2 million on this year's cap.
•Speaking of Newman, Jones tried not to isolate him as the only player who struggled down the stretch, but said it was an "ability to get the job done" and "skill-level drop-off" when asked to put his finger on why Newman's play dipped so dramatically in the final month of the season.
•While Jones was very adamant back in training camp about playing younger players, he admitted Monday the team might have thrown the young offensive line to the wolves too early.
"We may have gotten a little overzealous with some players in the middle of the offensive line," Jones said, relying heavily on youngsters Tyron Smith, Bill Nagy, Phil Costa and Kevin Kowalski. "We have to give them a chance to grow and progress, but we have to get protection in the middle for Tony (Romo)."
•In relation to the salary cap, Jones said he's excited where his team stands heading into the offseason, especially since it was initially thought this would be a year in which the team would have to eat so much "dead money," which would handicap them in signing new players. Jones said that isn't the case.
"We've done an outstanding job. I give Stephen (Jones) a lot of credit," Jerry said of his son, the team's director of player personnel. "This is a year we thought it would be Armageddon for us - this year. But we were able to do some things with the cap that gives us a chance to have some room to improve this team this year. And we will use it."
•One of the Cowboys' most significant free agents is wide receiver Laurent Robinson, who had a career season with 11 touchdowns, mostly as the team's third receiver. While Robinson has been quoted as saying he would like to return, Jerry Jones isn't solely counting on that alone to get him re-signed for 2012.
"I wouldn't be that presumptuous, but he sure had a great year," Jones said. "We think the receiver position is a strength for us. We've got a couple of young guys that we're proud of, too. I'm really appreciative of what he brought to us this year. He had a real outstanding year."
•Not only did head coach Jason Garrett admit he hasn't spoken to Dez Bryant since his latest off-the-field incident that had him momentarily detained by Miami police after an altercation at a club, Jones also said he has yet to speak with his young wide receiver. "I haven't talked to him about it, "Jones said. "I don't know details of it from his perspective. But I'm aware of it."
