Owner remains believer in team Chemistry, discipline of less concern than helping Romo
by TODD ARCHER,
Staff Writer tarcher@dallasnews.com ,
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
INDIANAPOLIS - Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones believes his team is as talented as any in the NFL, despite missing the playoffs in 2008.
Part of that belief comes from trade requests he's fielded lately from teams seeking three unnamed reserves.
"That's pretty good shape when you're sitting trying to get backups traded for," Jones said.
But talent alone does not equate to winning, and the failure to make the playoffs made the 2008 team seem like more style than substance.
"You have to dominate," Jones said. "You have to perform. You have to win."
For more than an hour Monday, Jones stood inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to talk about the state of his team. He hit on several topics:
Why fans should be optimistic in 2009
We'll get better quarterbacking. Tony [Romo] is early in his career. I'm not going to say that we're going to have him for 16 games and through the playoffs. We all know the injury factor isn't something you can plan on. We need to do a better job when we don't have him at quarterback. ... I think Tony will be better. When you look at the games he played in, it'd surprise you as to how well he played compared to the year before.
He played well in our complete analysis of his year.
Why he doesn't get caught up in chemistry
I think it's principally because I've experienced locker rooms that look dysfunctional on the face of it and [have] won world championships, OK?
What is the team's top priority
I think being as Romo-friendly as our team can be. ... Romo-friendly means let's utilize his skills to the fullest and make sure everything we do maximizes his abilities. ... On defense, I'd like to see turnovers. I'd like to see us get turnovers. I'd put that right behind the quarterbacking - getting defensive turnovers. Eliminating some turnovers, maybe that ought to go right in there on the offense.
If coach Wade Phillips needs to be harder on the players
Wade's style, I've seen that win championships. ... But I've seen him bite and bite good. It's a mistake for anybody to think that he won't and doesn't disagree with me.
If there needs to be real repercussions if players are late for meetings or treatments
The answer is yes. ... Do they need to feel it more than they have in the past? I'm not agreeing to that. ... I think you have to have fines. I think you have to have an understanding [that] you can't hold people up. I would hope that we can correct that perception.
How to correct the perception
I'm not so sure about that. I don't want to go as far as announcing every fine we give. There is a certain element of discipline that I think all of the other members of the team ought to know about it.
The possible returns of free agents Kevin Burnett, Chris Canty, Zach Thomas and Keith Davis
Looking ahead, rolling the clock forward, I would like to think the circumstances would be that we could figure out a way for them to be with the Cowboys. Every one of those guys I would hope we might could get something worked out. (But, Jones added, the salary cap will limit that chance.)
If the team has decided against bringing back Adam Jones
I'm not going to go that far. That's pretty sweeping; it covers a lot. But he's better off, and we're better off him not being on our roster.
Staff Writer tarcher@dallasnews.com ,
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS
INDIANAPOLIS - Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones believes his team is as talented as any in the NFL, despite missing the playoffs in 2008.
Part of that belief comes from trade requests he's fielded lately from teams seeking three unnamed reserves.
"That's pretty good shape when you're sitting trying to get backups traded for," Jones said.
But talent alone does not equate to winning, and the failure to make the playoffs made the 2008 team seem like more style than substance.
"You have to dominate," Jones said. "You have to perform. You have to win."
For more than an hour Monday, Jones stood inside Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis to talk about the state of his team. He hit on several topics:
Why fans should be optimistic in 2009
We'll get better quarterbacking. Tony [Romo] is early in his career. I'm not going to say that we're going to have him for 16 games and through the playoffs. We all know the injury factor isn't something you can plan on. We need to do a better job when we don't have him at quarterback. ... I think Tony will be better. When you look at the games he played in, it'd surprise you as to how well he played compared to the year before.
He played well in our complete analysis of his year.
Why he doesn't get caught up in chemistry
I think it's principally because I've experienced locker rooms that look dysfunctional on the face of it and [have] won world championships, OK?
What is the team's top priority
I think being as Romo-friendly as our team can be. ... Romo-friendly means let's utilize his skills to the fullest and make sure everything we do maximizes his abilities. ... On defense, I'd like to see turnovers. I'd like to see us get turnovers. I'd put that right behind the quarterbacking - getting defensive turnovers. Eliminating some turnovers, maybe that ought to go right in there on the offense.
If coach Wade Phillips needs to be harder on the players
Wade's style, I've seen that win championships. ... But I've seen him bite and bite good. It's a mistake for anybody to think that he won't and doesn't disagree with me.
If there needs to be real repercussions if players are late for meetings or treatments
The answer is yes. ... Do they need to feel it more than they have in the past? I'm not agreeing to that. ... I think you have to have fines. I think you have to have an understanding [that] you can't hold people up. I would hope that we can correct that perception.
How to correct the perception
I'm not so sure about that. I don't want to go as far as announcing every fine we give. There is a certain element of discipline that I think all of the other members of the team ought to know about it.
The possible returns of free agents Kevin Burnett, Chris Canty, Zach Thomas and Keith Davis
Looking ahead, rolling the clock forward, I would like to think the circumstances would be that we could figure out a way for them to be with the Cowboys. Every one of those guys I would hope we might could get something worked out. (But, Jones added, the salary cap will limit that chance.)
If the team has decided against bringing back Adam Jones
I'm not going to go that far. That's pretty sweeping; it covers a lot. But he's better off, and we're better off him not being on our roster.
posted by The Gryphon at 2:42 PM
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