Jerry Jones still upset about loss to Patriots, but says Jason Garrett won't be fired in-season — 'period'
The Dallas Cowboys felt that going into Gillette Stadium and getting a win over the New England Patriots would show they should be taken seriously as one of the NFC’s top teams this year, that if their offense, statistically one of the best in the NFL, could be successful against the Patriots’ top-ranked defense, they’d be making a statement.
Those things didn’t happen.
After Dallas lost to fall to 6-5, team owner and general manager Jerry Jones publicly called out head coach Jason Garrett. Among other things, Jones said, “With the makeup of this team, I shouldn’t be this frustrated.”
Jones wasn’t much less bothered on Tuesday.
‘Those coaches are out there at my ultimate decision’
During his weekly show on 105.3 The Fan, Jones said right off the bat his feelings haven’t changed much in the hours since the game ended.
Here’s Jones on the matter:
“When you’re general manager, which I am, those coaches are out there at my ultimate decision. So just as I should and do expect our fans to want to ask in a situation like that questions regarding how we perform, it’s very much within my realm, purview if you will, to basically not only be standing there as owner but be standing there as a general manager who put the staff together to begin with.
“People seem to think that it’s particularly harsh to have criticism and they think that when you look at the other side of the field and call a job well done [to New England’s Bill Belichick], that does not mean that’s extraordinary criticism of that job that you’ve done on the other side of the field, which is me. There’s no question that — disappointed is not the word — there’s no question that given an opportunity there were things that we could have taken advantage of, as there is in all games, but the other night the name of the game was turnovers, the other night the name of the game was weather, and the other night the name of the game was how to play that game in those circumstances.
“New England plays a lot of games in those circumstances, they coach their team to play games in those circumstances, as they should. And you have a very good chance when the weather becomes a factor to, if you will, be sitting there coaching with an advantage and that is a coach and an organization that works to take advantage of those situations.”
‘The answer is no. And period.’
Jones typically meets with Garrett and other coaches on Mondays, in part to go over personnel. That was initially seen as another sign of Jones’ displeasure with Garrett, but he debunked that, explaining that with a short week — the Cowboys have their traditional Thanksgiving game on Thursday — there isn’t time for that meeting.
Jones also said he has no intention of firing Garrett before the season ends.
“The answer is no. And period,” he said. “But I sit there and watch games, I watch games and I look at every aspect of it, since I put the coaches out there, since I put the players out there, at the end of the day— with a lot of help and with a collaborative effort — but at the end of the day the buck stops with me, and I am highly critical and I’m continually evaluating the performance of everyone involved in the game.”
Garrett’s contract is currently set to expire at the end of the season.
More from Yahoo Sports:
