Jerry Jones says Dak Prescott is healthy, blames incompletions on receivers
Jerry Jones has opinions about the Dallas Cowboys, and because he's the team's owner, he gets to share them whenever he wants. This time he shared them with "Shan & RJ" on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas/Fort Worth, answering a few questions about quarterback Dak Prescott.
It's been a roller-coaster season for Prescott, who is one year past a nasty ankle break that kept him out of all but five games in 2020. He hasn't been consistent, so Jones was asked if Prescott could be suffering from an undisclosed injury.
He shot that down quickly and explained that it's not Prescott's fault that some of his passes look off and he's getting more incompletions. Instead, he said the guys Dak is throwing to aren't always on the button.
"The thing that you’re seeing is sometimes the pass looks errant is because the receiver, for instance, ran the route 2 yards, cut it off 2 yards shorter," Jones said via the Dallas Morning News. "He should be out 2 more yards before he makes his cuts. It can make all the difference in the world as far as his ability to separate. It has a relativeness to the other receivers. And, so, if you’re not really crisp on the way the play was designed, relative to how many yards you go, the cut, then your passing game can look really off. That’s one of the answers: better routes.”
Jones makes a good point: A receiver who runs a poor route can make it look like the pass is off the mark, and those watching the game may not realize it's the route (and the guy running it) at fault and not the pass (and the guy who threw it). And Jones pointing that out during a radio interview is sure to delight the Cowboys receiving corps. Though if he wants to light a fire under them, that's the way to do it.
Jones thrilled his defense is reunited
The Cowboys' defensive line has been playing without several key members for weeks due to injuries, but they're close to getting all of them back.
Defensive tackle Neville Gallimore has missed all 12 games this season after dislocating his elbow during training camp, and defensive end Randy Gregory has missed the last three games with a calf strain. But Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen Jones (the son of Jerry) said that both players are preparing to play on Sunday against the Washington Football Team. Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence returned in Week 13 after missing the previous 10 games with a foot injury.
When Jerry Jones talked about that on 105.3 The Fan, it was easy to tell he was over the moon about having Gallimore, Gregory, Lawrence, and mainstay Micah Parsons back together again on the defensive line.
“I’m going to freeze it in time as far as this season is concerned — when all three of them are out there at the same time, and all three of them have a play where they’ve quote ‘got their hands down,’ but all three of them are in a pressure call or a pressure situation on defense, that’s going to be one that I want a picture of and I want to freeze it for a long time. Have all three of them pressure.
" … Moving [Parsons] around is the ticket, especially when you’re sitting here picturing Gregory and you’re picturing Lawrence out there. Now, the good news is that Lawrence, Gregory, they can move down and inside. And so, those give you a lot of options relative to Micah being outside now.”
