JJT: 'I'd be shocked' if Cowboys don't ask Roy Williams to take a pay cut

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SportsDayDFW.com


Columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor answered your questions in his weekly e-mail newsletter - Inside the Dallas Cowboys. Here are some highlights.

Peter Trulli asks ... As Jason Garrett spoke to Andy Reid during their postgame handshake, Garrett was seen on national TV smiling and laughing it up with Reid. The Eagles are a much-hated divisional rival. Maybe we should make as much of that as we have Tashard Choice asking for an autograph.

TAYLOR: This is what I think every time someone says something like that: This is not the '70, '80 or '90s anymore. This is a new generation. This is a different time. These guys change teams every four-five years. These guys pray together after games. These guys have known each other since they played in high school All-American games or went to the Nike summer camp together. They communicate via Twitter or Facebook, and they work each other's camps during the summer when they're not partying together. A lot of them share the same agents.

This is a different era. You simply have to accept it. All you should concern yourself is how hard do you believe a guy prepared to play or coach. If you believe he gave it his all, then you shouldn't care what he does after the game. I competed on the Cowboys' beat for a decade with one of my best friends, and I tried to kick his behind every single day and twice on Sunday as mama would say.


Roy Williams is showing up in games this year and playing well at time, but at critical times, he makes critical errors. Two critical lapses this year equal two losses. Do you think JJ and staff take these "lapses" into account?

TAYLOR: I think Roy has played well enough to come back for another season, but at the money a third receiver should make – not the No.1 receiver money he's scheduled to earn. I'd be shocked if the Cowboys don't ask him to take a pay cut. If he refuses, he wouldn't be on my team next year.

 

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Sam Todd asks ... What is wrong with the Cowboys' defense this year? Why can't they hold leads late in the game?

TAYLOR: When you can't rush the passer and you can't cover receivers, it's hard to win. DeMarcus Ware has been good – not great – and Anthony Spencer has been average at best. Mike Jenkins has been bad this season, and Terence Newman has been average at best. Among your best pass-rushers and cornerbacks, only Ware is having better than an average season. It's hard to win that way.


Sarah Drake asks ... Do you see progress under Garrett in team discipline?

TAYLOR: Absolutely. He has brought direction and organization and discipline to the franchise. He communicates well and has done a good job of making sure everyone knows he's in control of the team.


Tommy Caughran, Dallas ... The headline should have read: "Jackson exposes Cowboys' secondary coaches!" You cannot play man-to-man if the skill is not there. You must play zone or a combo zone. At a minimum you play Cover 2. Look around the league. Other teams have held DeSean Jackson in check.

TAYLOR: That, my friend, is revisionist history. Other teams have not held him in check. He was averaging 20 yards per catch before going off Sunday. Besides, the Cowboys spent much of the game playing zone, which is among the reasons he was so wide-open. He was just finding soft spots in the zone and waiting for the ball. You can't always stop a good player.

 

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Rod Steiger, Port Aransas asks ... Wouldn't you agree that Felix Jones is much more dangerous in space than between the tackles? It doesn't make much sense to me not to have more game planning to get him in space and let Tashard Choice do the work in the trenches.

TAYLOR: You can't run him on the perimeter every single time, or defenses would stop those types of plays every time he was in the game. You have to mix things up to succeed. Plus, Jones has been a good runner between the tackles.


Scott Akers, Findlay, Ohio asks ... With the poor performance by the defense this season, what are your thoughts on trying to get Dave Wannstedt back as defensive coordinator?

TAYLOR: I wouldn't want him. He's been a head coach for essentially more than a decade. Guys like that sometimes have a hard time taking a lesser role. He's also a 4-3 guy – not a 3-4 guy – and he's won a Super Bowl and made a lot of cash. I don't know that his fire burns as brightly at age 58. Reaching into the past is not always a good idea.


Rocky Valdes, Midland, Texas asks ... Keith Brooking summed up our poor defensive play by saying that it was players "trying to do too much" on every snap. Do you agree with that assessment?

TAYLOR: There's some truth to that. What it means is that some guys are trying so hard to do their job that they're not really doing their job. Football is all about doing your job, especially on defense. If Jay Ratliff's job is to make sure no one goes through the gap between the center and the left guard, then that's what he needs to do – even if he thinks that he can make the tackle by going through the gap between the center and the right guard. You have to do what the defense calls for you to do. You have to be disciplined.

 

[dbair1967]

JJT, "I'd be shocked" if you ever wrote anything useful.

 

[Midswat]

Question is, would Roy reduce his salary?

I think he's scheduled to make 5 mil this year. Could we get that knocked down to 2?

Would a team out there pay him more than that to be a #1?

 

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Peter Trulli asks ... As Jason Garrett spoke to Andy Reid during their postgame handshake, Garrett was seen on national TV smiling and laughing it up with Reid. The Eagles are a much-hated divisional rival. Maybe we should make as much of that as we have Tashard Choice asking for an autograph.

TAYLOR: This is what I think every time someone says something like that: This is not the '70, '80 or '90s anymore. This is a new generation. This is a different time.

Fuck all that. Yes, it is a different time. Game is played by pussies(that can all still kick my ass mind you, except for maybe 31 kickers) for the most part now and not straight up men. Blow me on the fact that it's not the other years anymore. Allegience is still allegience and piss on Garrett as well for laughing it up as well after the game.

Does anyone really care anymore on this team? I don't think so.