Jerry Jones reacts to Dallas Cowboys’ 8-8 season: ‘We weren’t up to the task’
Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones declined to discuss head coach Jason Garrett’s future after the team closed out the season with a 47-16 romp over the Washington Redskins.
Jones spoke with the media for almost 30 minutes. Here’s a condensed version of his comments, courtesy of the Cowboys’ transcription service:
Jerry Jones on the finale
“Obviously, this is a very disappointing way to end it right after our feelings about how the game went against the Redskins. And of course, not being able to get into the playoffs creates a very disappointing time and event for everyone concerned. But, again, I’m pleased that our fans could enjoy this and pleased that these guys have that taste in their mouth. We’re pretty much there. Of course, the procedure is when your season is over, you effectively disband the team, and you do that every year. We’ll be doing that tomorrow, and we’ll have several busy days over the ensuing weeks ahead. I don’t have any comments or thoughts to share with anybody about any pending decisions as to coaches, players or anything within the organization at this time, other than to congratulate our players on this game. I appreciated under the circumstances the way they competed, and I would have to say congratulations to Philadelphia.”
Jerry Jones on his personal relationship with Jason Garrett
“Well, I’ve known Jason ever since I’ve been in pro football. His dad was here when I got here and scouted for us for 20-something years. He gave him some great advice. His dad told him: ‘stay next to Jerry.’ The bottom line is, I have all the respect in the world for him and his lineage. He’s outstanding. I think he’s an outstanding asset, not only for us, but for the NFL.”
Jerry Jones on missing the playoffs
“We certainly would’ve liked to have that game back in Philadelphia, but we didn’t. These are the consequences. You can’t have some of the missteps or the losses that we had throughout the year and not ultimately pay the fiddler. That’s exactly what happened tonight. We played well enough out there tonight to beat the Redskins good here at home, but we didn’t play well enough in Philadelphia to win the East. For that, I do regret for our fans in particular.”
Jerry Jones on his expectations for 2019
“I have had many times in my short life where I haven’t met my dreams or expectations. That’s what happens when you dream a lot, hope a lot and try for it a lot. That room is full of gas in there. They have a high bar and reach for it. I sure feel terrible for them because I know how bad they feel for their teammates and really what might have been.”
Jerry Jones on coaching changes
“I’m not going to get into it at all, an evaluation or an assessment. I’m not. I’m going to do exactly what I always do and get up, go forward and do the best job that I can. We’ll make those decisions accordingly.”
Jerry Jones on his role with the team
“When you work for yourself, you have to evaluate and change what you’re doing. You don’t fire yourself, so you look at what you can do better, and you go do it better if you can. I make changes, and I certainly can see myself making changes in a lot of areas.”
Jerry Jones on his motivation to win
“I have all the incentive in the world to have the Cowboys win football games. No one tees it up like I do, no one pushes as much out every time we go to practice, no one pushes as much out every time we kick off any more than I do, so I’ve got a lot of incentive to win football games.”
Jerry Jones on Jason Garrett
“There’s 20 or 30 boxes there, and as I’ve said many times, he does things about as good as can be done. I know he gave a speech before the NFL to all the owners and coaches that they’ll be talking about for forever. We all know that at the end of the day, we want to win the ball game, and we do. At the end of the day, that’s certainly our goal to get that done. But Jason Garrett does a lot of outstanding things and has been trained and has a lot of valuable experience.”
