FRISCO, Texas – Following the Cowboys' 30-27 loss to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, head coach Brian Schottenheimer said he had "no question" that Dallas had the personnel to be able to execute Matt Eberflus' defense.
On Monday, Cowboys COO/co-owner Stephen Jones echoed the same sentiment.
"Yes I do," Jones said when asked on 105.3 the Fan if Dallas had the pieces they need defensively. "This just comes down to execution. We've got to continue to be more consistent, and we can certainly do it. I think this is a work in progress, obviously we've got a lot of work to do on the defensive side of the ball."
Going to work and chopping wood were two points that Jones repeatedly mentioned when discussing how the Cowboys need to go about fixing their defense, which ranks last in the NFL for yards allowed per game with 411.7, the only team in the league allowing north of 400 yards per game.
Even though a lot of the same struggles that have plagued them through the first five games arose in Week 6, Jones feels that this is all a process that can be worked out.
"I think it's a work in progress. There's no question. Matt Eberflus has been a very successful defensive coordinator in this league…" Jones said.
"It's a matter of our guys executing the defense, probably going to be some give and take in there. Us doing more and more of what our guys may do better in terms of how it works with what he's doing. It's just one of those things where we just have to continue to go to work every week and get better."
When asked how much of a step back the Cowboys defense could take if they were to make a change at defensive coordinator at this point in the season, Jones reiterated that the team is focused on themselves at the moment and is confident in their future outlook.
"Guys, we're worried about getting to work, going to work this week and getting better each week so we can be more consistent and execute," Jones said. "We feel like, as coach Schottenheimer said well, we've got good personnel, and I think we're going to evolve into a good defense."
With six games in the books and 11 to go, it is still relatively "early" in the season, but it won't stay that way for much longer. At one point do Jones and the Cowboys not think it's early in the year anymore?
"I haven't thought about that," Jones said. "When you come to work every day, you think about the task at hand. We don't think about the season as a whole, we think about the next game."
With their next game being against a dynamic offense in the Washington Commanders and the future schedule not getting any easier, Dallas is running out of time to fix things. One of the first areas they're looking for improvement in? Communication, which has been a consistent problem on the back end.
"The fact that we're not playing well is alarming," Jones said. "Our goal here is to play championship caliber football. Communication and execution go hand-in-hand. You've got to be communicating well to execute, and certainly that's a part of the lack of execution at this point."
