Cowboys Team Report
Yahoo! Sports
2 hours, 23 minutes ago
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones refuses to guarantee a Super Bowl run for the Cowboys.
But after last season’s disappointing playoff performance after a 13-3 regular season, this is a Super Bowl-or-bust season in Dallas. Guarantee or not, Jones is very confident that this might be the season the Cowboys put it all together.
But after six straight playoff losses since 1996, the Cowboys are due to end this postseason drought.
Make no mistake, Jones expects as much.
“I am just excited about the season,” Jones said. “I just think we got a better team. Last year I couldn’t have expected to have the season we had. But we got a better team this year. We have better expectations. I am not trying to diminish not having playoff success. Everybody knows we should have done better. I don’t know if I am expecting a better record and to get home-field advantage but we got a better team that can do better than we did last year in the playoffs.”
He has done everything he could do in the offseason to make it happen—namely spending more than $170 million on contract extensions for Terrell Owens, Terence Newman, Marion Barber and Flozell Adams.
This has already been the richest offseason in club history and Jones still must ink two first-round draft picks to contracts and is negotiating a long-term contract extension with Pro Bowl safety Ken Hamlin.
He has taken a chance on suspended cornerback Adam Jones, acquiring him in a trade with the Tennessee Titans.
Jones is the first to admit that he wouldn’t be making that move if he didn’t think the Cowboys were close to being special. He shipped out starting linebacker Akin Ayodele after signing free agent Zach Thomas.
Jerry Jones thinks Thomas will have the biggest impact of any of the offseason acquisitions because of his football IQ and ability to get to the ball.
Ayodele was in the right place most of the time but he didn’t always make the tackle, according to Jerry Jones.
Why else does Jerry Jones think this might be the season?
Well, he credits the coaching staff led by Wade Phillips, which features $3 million offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, veteran offensive line coach Hudson Houck and two former coordinators and a former head coach as position coaches in defensive line coach Todd Grantham, linebackers coach Reggie Herring and secondary coach Dave Campo.
“This is the best coaching staff I have ever been associated with,” Jerry Jones said.
And that includes the staffs of the Jimmy Johnson era that won two Super Bowls and yielded future head coaches like Dave Wannstedt, Butch Davis, Norv Turner and Campo.
It also includes the Bill Parcells staff that helped build this current Cowboys success story while yielding two current NFL head coaches in Saints coach Sean Payton and Dolphins coach Tony Sparano.
“Yes, the best staff overall and I don’t want to get into the head coach,” Jerry Jones said. “I am talking about the staffs in general and we have had some fine staffs. If I had to list three or four of the most exciting things for this coming year our coaching staff would be there at the top and obviously Wade leads the way there.”
Camp Calendar: Cowboys report to camp July 24. The first practice is July 25. The team will break camp on Aug. 12. They will travel to Denver and scrimmage against the Broncos on Aug. 13 and 14 before playing a preseason game on Aug. 16.
Notes, Quotes
• Despite media reports to the contrary, the Cowboys never had interest in trading for Atlanta receiver Joe Horn. The Cowboys are convinced they have better options on their own roster.
• Defensive coordinator Brian Stewart held a retreat at the team’s Valley Ranch headquarters for 40 aspiring minority coaches and administrators on the college and pro level. University of Houston coach Kevin Sumlin and Kansas State coach Ron Prince were among the presenters. In attendance was former Cowboys tight end and current Cleveland Browns tight ends coach Alfredo Roberts.
• Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is very supportive of Adam Jones and his decision to distance himself from the nickname Pacman.
Jerry Jones said Adam Jones has done everything right so far in his attempt to stay out of trouble so he can be reinstated by the NFL. He said the name change in itself won’t keep him out of trouble. But the fact that Adam Jones made the decision proves that trying to do right is important to him and at least he is thinking about solutions to stay clear of trouble.
• WR Terrell Owens is hosting a two-day camp for kids in Dallas. After the camp he plans to take a vacation and then get ready for training camp. But Owens has not backed off his opinion that the Cowboys are Super Bowl worthy.
“In order to do that we’ve got to make the playoffs, and we’ll do that,” he said. “After that, 1-A is win a playoff game.”
Quote To Note: “It’s motivation. It refreshes and reminds us that the playoffs are real and everything people say about the playoffs are real. You get in them and anything can happen. You can do it.”—Jerry Jones on his thoughts after watching the Giants win the Super Bowl.
2 hours, 23 minutes ago
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones refuses to guarantee a Super Bowl run for the Cowboys.
But after last season’s disappointing playoff performance after a 13-3 regular season, this is a Super Bowl-or-bust season in Dallas. Guarantee or not, Jones is very confident that this might be the season the Cowboys put it all together.
But after six straight playoff losses since 1996, the Cowboys are due to end this postseason drought.
Make no mistake, Jones expects as much.
“I am just excited about the season,” Jones said. “I just think we got a better team. Last year I couldn’t have expected to have the season we had. But we got a better team this year. We have better expectations. I am not trying to diminish not having playoff success. Everybody knows we should have done better. I don’t know if I am expecting a better record and to get home-field advantage but we got a better team that can do better than we did last year in the playoffs.”
He has done everything he could do in the offseason to make it happen—namely spending more than $170 million on contract extensions for Terrell Owens, Terence Newman, Marion Barber and Flozell Adams.
This has already been the richest offseason in club history and Jones still must ink two first-round draft picks to contracts and is negotiating a long-term contract extension with Pro Bowl safety Ken Hamlin.
He has taken a chance on suspended cornerback Adam Jones, acquiring him in a trade with the Tennessee Titans.
Jones is the first to admit that he wouldn’t be making that move if he didn’t think the Cowboys were close to being special. He shipped out starting linebacker Akin Ayodele after signing free agent Zach Thomas.
Jerry Jones thinks Thomas will have the biggest impact of any of the offseason acquisitions because of his football IQ and ability to get to the ball.
Ayodele was in the right place most of the time but he didn’t always make the tackle, according to Jerry Jones.
Why else does Jerry Jones think this might be the season?
Well, he credits the coaching staff led by Wade Phillips, which features $3 million offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, veteran offensive line coach Hudson Houck and two former coordinators and a former head coach as position coaches in defensive line coach Todd Grantham, linebackers coach Reggie Herring and secondary coach Dave Campo.
“This is the best coaching staff I have ever been associated with,” Jerry Jones said.
And that includes the staffs of the Jimmy Johnson era that won two Super Bowls and yielded future head coaches like Dave Wannstedt, Butch Davis, Norv Turner and Campo.
It also includes the Bill Parcells staff that helped build this current Cowboys success story while yielding two current NFL head coaches in Saints coach Sean Payton and Dolphins coach Tony Sparano.
“Yes, the best staff overall and I don’t want to get into the head coach,” Jerry Jones said. “I am talking about the staffs in general and we have had some fine staffs. If I had to list three or four of the most exciting things for this coming year our coaching staff would be there at the top and obviously Wade leads the way there.”
Camp Calendar: Cowboys report to camp July 24. The first practice is July 25. The team will break camp on Aug. 12. They will travel to Denver and scrimmage against the Broncos on Aug. 13 and 14 before playing a preseason game on Aug. 16.
Notes, Quotes
• Despite media reports to the contrary, the Cowboys never had interest in trading for Atlanta receiver Joe Horn. The Cowboys are convinced they have better options on their own roster.
• Defensive coordinator Brian Stewart held a retreat at the team’s Valley Ranch headquarters for 40 aspiring minority coaches and administrators on the college and pro level. University of Houston coach Kevin Sumlin and Kansas State coach Ron Prince were among the presenters. In attendance was former Cowboys tight end and current Cleveland Browns tight ends coach Alfredo Roberts.
• Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is very supportive of Adam Jones and his decision to distance himself from the nickname Pacman.
Jerry Jones said Adam Jones has done everything right so far in his attempt to stay out of trouble so he can be reinstated by the NFL. He said the name change in itself won’t keep him out of trouble. But the fact that Adam Jones made the decision proves that trying to do right is important to him and at least he is thinking about solutions to stay clear of trouble.
• WR Terrell Owens is hosting a two-day camp for kids in Dallas. After the camp he plans to take a vacation and then get ready for training camp. But Owens has not backed off his opinion that the Cowboys are Super Bowl worthy.
“In order to do that we’ve got to make the playoffs, and we’ll do that,” he said. “After that, 1-A is win a playoff game.”
Quote To Note: “It’s motivation. It refreshes and reminds us that the playoffs are real and everything people say about the playoffs are real. You get in them and anything can happen. You can do it.”—Jerry Jones on his thoughts after watching the Giants win the Super Bowl.
posted by The Gryphon at 8:07 PM
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