So much for a quiet bye week of the Cowboys staying under the radar to focus solely on playing better football. A heated exchange between owner Jerry Jones and the hosts of a radio call-in show may have effectively taken some heat away from the team's putrid performance on Sunday, but the controversy is already drawing new attention to Jones's longtime role as the team's mouthpiece as well as what the role of the Cowboys' flagship station should be.

Meanwhile, the owner explains why there won't be a midseason coaching change, Dak Prescott reveals his message to the player who broke a leg sacking him, and Mike Zimmer admits how the Lions got him to panic early in Sunday's game. We look at how the 47-9 loss dropped the Cowboys in the power rankings, what the setback has done to their playoff chances, and why Mike McCarthy considers the blowout defeat a great opportunity for his players. All that, plus a full postgame post-mortem, a preview of this year's Thanksgiving Day halftime show, and a former Cowboys star gets traded... again.

Amari Cooper trade history: Where does Cowboys’ deal stack up vs. Browns’ recent move? :: Dallas Morning News

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The ex-Cowboy has been traded again, for the third time in six years. The Bills sent a 2025 third-round draft pick and a 2026 seventh-rounder for Cooper (plus a sixth-rounder next spring). He cost Dallas a first-rounder in 2018; the Cowboys then dealt him to Cleveland in early 2022 for a fifth-rounder and a swap of sixth-round selections.

Jerry Jones threatens radio hosts: 'I'll get someone else to ask these questions' :: Cowboys Wire

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Jones's weekly call-in stirred up quite a storm of controversy after he got testy with 105.3 hosts Shan and RJ for asking him about his inaction during the offseason resulting in team showings like Sunday's. The owner then cut off a follow-up question before it was even finished being asked. The flagship station has come under fire before for going easy on the front office for fear of losing their broadcast rights and exclusive access.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones explains himself to The Athletic after fired up radio comments Tuesday :: The Athletic

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Jones tried to offer context to his snippy comments from earlier in the day, explaining that the team's business relationship with the radio station was indeed a factor in how he responded. "The facts are that if I’m going to be grilled by the tribunal, I don’t need it to be by the guys I’m paying," he said. "If those had been real fans sitting there or if there had been people that knew what they were talking about, football people, I might have had a different answer.”

Radio host shocked by Jerry's explanation :: Shan Shariff

Mike Zimmer admits to hitting 'panic' button too early vs. Lions :: The Mothership

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The DC said he "changed up a little bit, probably a little too soon" after the Lions' quick offensive start Sunday. "When we've been bad, it's like it just steamrolls. It goes bad, bad, bad, bad… a lot of it comes down to eye discipline, guys running to get somewhere, trying to get somewhere fast when they don't need to be." From missed tackles to getting off blocks, converging on the ball, and stopping the run, there's plenty for his unit to work on in the bye week.

Why Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will not make an in-season coaching change :: Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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Jones was adamant that he will not make an in-season coaching change, despite having done it before. “We were one-and-seven at that time, one-and-seven ... At that particular time, I did think it was the thing to do,” Jones said of his 2010 dismissal of Wade Phillips. “I think it did produce a positive effect, but we’ll never know... It was one of the few times in my 35 years in the NFL that I heard throughout the league that the one coach was responsible for them having the team, and that was Wade Phillips running the defense for Denver when they won the Super Bowl. Now, that was the coach I’d let go out of here just a few years earlier. So, so much for knee jerking on one-and-seven.”

Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy: 'We relish' chance to bounce back from blowout loss to Lions :: NFL.com

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For McCarthy and the Cowboys, there's nowhere to go but up after their Week 6 whipping. "This is a place that a lot of good can come out of it. Been here before," the coach said. "And I think this is a really good opportunity for our leadership. I think it's an excellent opportunity for our young guys to continue to play. It's an excellent opportunity for those guys to build off some of the things they have done well. Because this will pay forward. In my experience it always has. When you play young players this much and play this many different players this much, I think the long game definitely has a chance to be very bright."

Cowboys-Lions postgame analysis :: Cowboys Wire

• Major Takeaways: Cowboys' 47-9 loss to Lions shouldn't surprise anyone paying attention

• Winners and Losers: Cowboys blown out again, Trevon Diggs plays bullfighter

• Lessons Learned: Prescott's struggling vision an issue in Cowboys' 47-9 loss to Lions

• Studs and Duds: Cowboys crash down through earth in 38-point dismantling

• Good, Bad, Ugly: Awful pass protection, falling for trick plays, red zone nightmares among Cowboys lowlights in Week 6

Cowboys’ Dak Prescott plans to reach out to Lions’ Aidan Hutchinson after injury :: MLive

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Prescott remembers all too well the difficult journey that comes after suffering a season-ending injury. "I just told him to keep his head up. It is part of the story, I promise," he said of the Lions star who broke a tibia sacking Prescott in the third quarter. "Wishing him the best in his recovery. I know it’s going to be a mental challenge just as much as it is physical, but the way that he started his career and the player that he seems to be, I imagine he’ll be just fine and recover from it.” Prescott offered Hutchinson a few words as he being carted away Sunday, and he added that he plans to get the lineman's phone number and reach out again.

NFL Power Rankings Week 7: Cowboys in bottom 10? Texans, Lions chase No. 1 spot :: Cowboys Wire

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It was quite a fall for Dallas, dropping 11 spots after the mauling from Detroit. Sitting just outside the top 10 after last week's win, the Cowboys now find themselves at No. 22, just barely outside the league's worst ten teams.

2024 NFL playoff picture: AFC, NFC seed projections, chances :: ESPN

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Despite sitting at .500, the Cowboys currently have just a 20% chance of making the postseason. Their chances of winning the NFC East? 11%. They're being given only a 1% chance of earning a Super Bowl berth.

Lainey Wilson suiting up for Dallas Cowboys halftime show on Thanksgiving :: Billboard

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The country singer is expected to perform songs from her new album, which debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, as well as some seasonal favorites. Wilson will also reportedly be joined by a surprise guest. The Cowboys/Giants halftime show will serve as this year's kickoff to The Salvation Army's Red Kettle campaign.

This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys Headlines: Jerry offers context on radio rant, Zimmer admits to panicking, Dak's message for Hutchinson