FRISCO, Texas – Following the Cowboys' 44-24 loss to the Broncos on Sunday, owner and general manager Jerry Jones wasn't pleased with how his team played and the fact that they're sitting at 3-4-1 with one game to go before the bye week.
On Tuesday, Jones went on his weekly radio show on 105.3 The Fan to discuss some final thoughts about the Denver game, as well as some notes on what's coming up, including the NFL trade deadline which sits a week away.
Here's some of the highlights from what Jones had to say:
Struggles in the defensive run game:
When the Cowboys made the Micah Parsons trade, one of the reasons that Jones and Dallas' front office said they made the move was to improve their play against the run on defense.
On Sunday, they gave up 179 rushing yards and are giving up the fourth-most rushing yards per game in the NFL (146) through eight games. How do they fix it?
"We need combination," Jones said. "We need to basically have better play from the linebackers maintaining the integrity of your gaps, which the linebackers have to fill. The linebackers have to slide, and so they did a good job on us, Denver, the other day and we did a poor job, so we've got to do better there."
What changes to scheme/personnel are coming?
On Monday, head coach Brian Schottenheimer said that "bigger changes" will be coming for the Cowboys, especially after the bye week and even before with Arizona coming to town next week.
So, where does Jones see a lot of those changes coming, whether it be in scheme or personnel?
"I think you'll see more time spent in the linebacker room by coaching," Jones said. "I think you'll see a lot on the offensive side of the ball. I'll see a lot of zeroing in by the meetings and the coaching staff on, I mentioned it two or three times, your penalty situation. And I think we'll continue to work to eliminate those turnovers."
Is linebacker a trade target before the deadline?
That's now two times that Jones had brought up the play of the linebackers on Tuesday. While he made clear that unit needs to play better, and the coaches need to spend more time in that meeting room, it's not necessarily an indicator that Dallas will make a move before the NFL's trade deadline to try to improve that position… or is it?
"Not necessarily, not necessarily, not at all, but possibly so. Now how about that for an answer?" Jones said with a laugh."But guys, really, it is an area where you can spend more time and you can get better, it's point of emphasis for everybody."
"My point this morning is that every position out there should be, during the week between games, looking for the things you didn't do it well, addressing 'em during your practice and your meeting times with other players."
If a trade is made, what is Jones looking for?
There's no guarantee that Jones and the Cowboys do pull the trigger on a trade, and their current tone suggests they'd need to find an astounding offer that's just too good to pass up if they do go in that direction.
Should they elect to pursue a trade, what kind of player are they looking for to help this Cowobys team?
"One that loves football. Loves football. That seems trite. Why wouldn't they be out there playing? Some do more than others," Jones said. "And so you're looking for guys that just are from within, self-motivators, miserable when they don't play well and they exude that around their teammates. That's just a little thing called makeup right there. Now obviously you want to get a player that is in the top percentile of the kind of players that you'd like to go forward with. That has a price tag."
Latest on CB Trevon Diggs
The Cowboys placed CB Trevon Diggs on injured reserve Saturday, and both Jerry and Stephen Jones have said they expect Diggs to be back for the Cowboys at some point this season.
"Diggs' biggest problem is he is injured, and it's not the same knee that he's been doing his rehab with, so that's his number one challenge," Jones said. "Unfortunately, he's got a handful of challenges here that are physically related, and that's why the status he's got today."
Jones said that he "doesn't see that today at all" when asked if Diggs had played his last game with the Cowboys, feels he still loves the game of football and his knee issues are stemming from the knee opposite of the one that was recently reconstructed.
