IRVING, Texas - There were undoubtedly some questions Jerry Jones would have preferred not to answer during a conference call he had Monday.
The topic had been the Cowboys and Yankees joint business venture, but the conversation quickly turned to football. In the wake of the Cowboys 34-14 loss to the previously 1-4 Rams Sunday, Jones had to define the job security of head coach Wade Phillips. When asked about whether the coach's job was on the line after the game Sunday, Jones' reply was "Emphatically no." He echoed that response during Monday's call.
"Absolutely he's going to finish the season," Jones said. "That isn't even a remote consideration. That's out of the question. Absolutely no circumstances at all."
While the Cowboys still have a winning record this season, at 4-3, and are 17-7 under Phillips, they are 5-6 in the last 11 games dating back to the loss to Philadelphia last Dec. 16. The coach is not new to the way the NFL works, having been around for 31 seasons, as he frequently mentions, so he isn't surprised the "hot seat" talk has begun. As per his typical style, Phillips tried to absorb blame for the poor play Sunday.
"I've been in the league a long time," Phillips said. "I think that's common, that stuff's talked about, but that's not going to effect how we prepare for this game Sunday."
Most of the Cowboys locker room defended Phillips Monday.
"I think our play is on the hot seat," said defensive tackle Tank Johnson. "Our coach is not the reason why we are struggling. We are the reason why we are struggling."
On Monday there was only one player who seemed to understand the inevitability of Phillips' job coming into question, linebacker and team captain Bradie James.
"All I know is we have to come back and bounce back," James said. "Usually the way this league works, the head guy is the first guy to get the blame. But it all runs downhill."
Already this season, interim coaches have taken over the Rams and Raiders. Phillips himself has served as an interim twice in his long career.
Jack'd Up
For the first 15 games of last season, no running back went for more than 100 yards against the Cowboys defense, then Washington's Clinton Portis did it in the season finale, when one could make the point that the Cowboys weren't really into the game.
No one else reached the century mark until Week Four, when Portis did it again. Evidently Portis just had the Cowboys number, because the Cowboys went back to their usual run-stopping selves the next two weeks.
Well Sunday, that all changed. St. Louis' Stephen Jackson had three touchdowns and 160 yards rushing on 25 carries, the most the Cowboys have allowed on the ground since Oct. 24, 2004, when Ahman Green ran for 163 yards on 15 carries as a Packer.
Jackson's big day ranks sixth on the all-time list of rushing yards in a game against the Cowboys. Wade Phillips said the Cowboys' struggles against the run came as very much a surprise, but that he sees the problem after a look at the tape.
"I think our execution, our fits and stuff, especially in the running game wasn't good this game," Phillips said. "It was more the fits . . . They had a good running back, we knew that. He was their key guy, we didn't stop him. The go-to-guy, that's who we need to shut down and we didn't do that this game."
On Jackson's back-breaking 56-yard run in the third quarter, several Cowboys took bad angles or were out of position from attacking the wrong gap, and others were unable to scrape off blocks.
If there's any insult to Jackson rumbling all day, it's that the Cowboys could have picked him with the 22nd selection in the 2004 draft, but instead traded into the second round to stockpile picks and take Julius Jones. Jackson is the only star running back to emerge from that class, and could have been had when the Cowboys were in desperate need of a back to replace Troy Hambrick.
Jones Enters Rehab
Suspended Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones has entered an alcohol rehabilitation center in accordance with the terms for his reinstatement, according to Jerry Jones.
Twice last week Adam Jones attempted to enroll in Dallas-area treatment facilities as required by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, but Jerry Jones told reporters Monday that Adam Jones had found a treatment program "in another part of the country."
The owner also said the program was run by the NFL. Last Tuesday, the NFL suspended the cornerback for at least four games for an alcohol-related incident at a downtown Dallas hotel on Oct. 7 in which he was involved in a scuffle with a bodyguard.
The league has said a reinstatement will be dependent on Adam Jones complying with the treatment plans and a clinical evaluation. Wade Phillips wasn't willing to discuss the cornerback on Monday.
"Same as last week, he's not with us," Phillips said. "My concern is the guys that are with us and trying to get them to play well."
Goodell said he will reevaluate the suspension after the Cowboys travel to Washington Nov. 16, and decide whether Jones can return to the team or the indefinite suspension should continue. Jones was suspended the entire 2007 season and wasn't officially reinstated until Aug. 28.
Short Shots
Former Cowboys' great Bob Lilly, a Hall-of-Famer and Ring of Honor inductee, is grieving the loss of his brother Larry, who passed away Monday at age 62 from pancreatic cancer. Lilly played 14 seasons for the Cowboys from 1961-74, earning a team-record 11 Pro Bowls . . . Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who can break the NFL record for consecutive games with a sack next week with his 11th straight, is now leading the NFL in sacks with nine, after posting three on Sunday . . . Tight end Jason Witten leads the NFC in catches with 45 and is tied for second in the NFL with Andre Johnson, both just one behind Cincinnati's T.J. Houshmandzadeh (46).
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