While the appearance of Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones on the sideline during the first quarter of Saturday’s loss to Philadelphia caused quite a stir, coach Jason Garrett shrugged it off today.
Dallas Cowboys
Against the Eagles on Saturday, Jason Witten passed Drew Pearson for third place in Cowboys history for receiving yards.
Witten has 7,840 yards in nine seasons after catching four passes for 24 yards against Philadelphia. Pearson had 7,822. Next on the list is Tony Hill at 7,988 yards. Michael Irvin is the franchise leader with 11,904.
Sometime next season, Witten should catch Irvin in receptions, too. Irvin had 750 in his career. Witten is at 689 with one game to play in 2011.
When the news tricked through that the Giants had beaten the Jets, thereby making the Cowboys game against the Eagles meaningless, the Cowboys went into safe mode. Tony Romo, who had injured his hand in the opening series, and Felix Jones, both watched the rest of the game from the sidelines as the Cowboys already started planning for next weekend’s winner-take-all match-up with the Giants.
Nevermind that their was still an NFL regular-season game in progress. When Jerry Jones left his box and marched right to coach Jason Garrett on the sideline, it was obvious that all the Cowboys cared about was getting through the Eagles game without any injuries.
After tying his career high with 22 carries against Tampa Bay, running back Felix Jones was not in attendance at the portion of Tuesday’s practice that was open to the media.
The Cowboys say this was mainly a precaution move as Jones is coming off a 22 carry 108 yard performance last week at Tampa Bay. Jones rushed for 100 yards in consecutive games for the first time in his career.
Given his history, there has to be at least a little bit of a concern, however, it could just be an extra day of rest to make sure he is ready for another large dose of carries Saturday against Philadelphia.
Cowboys regain NFC East lead behind Tony Romo’s four touchdowns in 31-15 win over Bucs
After two NFL coaches were fired this week, Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones was asked about the status of his rookie coach if the team doesn’t make the playoffs.
“No, not at all,” Jones told ESPN’s Hannah Storm on Tuesday. “It’s really not even something worth discussion. We are really just getting started. We’ve made the first half step out of the blocks in Jason’s career as coach of the Dallas Cowboys. I do intend, if there are mistakes made, then, I want to be around for the rewards when they’re corrected. And he’s the guy that can correct them.”
As expected the Cowboys have placed running back DeMarco Murray on season-ending injured reserve after fracturing his ankle in Sunday’s loss to the New York Giants.
To replace Murray, the Cowboys have signed veteran running back Sammy Morris, who will serve as a backup to starter Felix Jones.
Morris, an 11-year veteran, was one of the final players cut by the New England Patriots before the start of the regular season, and the tailback has a long history with Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. The two were teammates on the Miami Dolphins in 2004, and Morris played under Garrett when he was a Dolphins assistant coach in 2005 and ’06.
It is not often that Cowboys Owner/general manager Jerry Jones doesn’t like to hear himself talk, but last one was one of those times.
For the first time after a game all season, Jones did not take questions after the Cowboys’ loss to the Giants. He just made a 32-second statement minutes after watching his team blow a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter for the third time this season:
The Dallas Cowboys missed a great opportunity to basically win the division last night and knock the New York Giants out of the playoffs. But Rob Ryan’s defense could not come up with a big stop against Eli Manning in the final 3:14 of the game. Good teams do not blow 12 point leads with 5:41 left in the game.
The blame for this lose has to be on the shoulders of Rob Ryan as the Cowboys had no answer to the Giants offensive game plan. The Cowboys D made Eli look like Peyton, as he threw for more than 400 yards. They could not even stop the run as Brandon Jacobs rushed for 101 yards. Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks ran free in the Cowboys secondary all night, combining for 14 catches.
Linebacker DeMarcus Ware and wide receiver Laurent Robinson returned to practice Thursday after missing Wednesday’s workout with stinger and shoulder injuries.
Safety Abram Elam was missing from the practice likely to return to Florida to attend the funeral of his father, Donald Elam Sr.
Wide receiver Miles Austin (hamstring) and fullback Tony Fiammetta (illness) are practicing for the second straight day and guard Kyle Kosier (foot) has returned to work as well.
