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Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer
ATLANTA — In the aftermath of Sunday’s 27-21 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones spoke to the players, coaches, medical staff and support staff inside the locker room.
With the Cowboys’ third straight loss leaving them with a 3-5 record, Jones wanted to send some reassurance that all was not lost on the 2024 season.
“Well, I really don’t want to get into that because it was a very emotional message,” Jones said. “But I spoke to the team about having my butt kicked a few times and been around men who’ve had their butt kicked, and I’ve seen them come back and hold the trophy up … Now there’s times for all things. We all know we’ve got to play better than we’ve played tonight or we’re not going anywhere.”
In 2018, the Cowboys were 3-4 when they traded a first-round pick to the Oakland Raiders for wide receiver Amari Cooper. While the Cowboys lost their first game with Cooper, they won seven of their last eight to finish 10-6, win the NFC East and advance to the divisional round of the playoffs.
The trade deadline is Tuesday, and Jones said the Cowboys “have some things in the mill.”
Asked if the Cowboys would make a bold trade, like the one for Cooper six years ago, Jones said “don’t look for those kinds of things, OK.”
“The point is,” Jones said, “we got a shot, we think, to improve our roster.”
The Cowboys have plenty of needs, like wide receiver, defensive line and offensive line. Jones said the returns of edge rusher Micah Parsons (ankle) and cornerback DaRon Bland (foot) are “close.” Wide receiver Brandin Cooks (knee) is eligible to have his practice window opened on Monday and has improved markedly in the past week.
“We’re going to do everything we can, at all times, to improve this team and in our judgment, if what you have to give up helps improve it, we’ll do it,” Jones said. “I know everybody understands I don’t think I have to say it, but we’ll go for it.”
This is the Cowboys’ first three-game losing streak since 2020, when they lost four in a row on their way to a 6-10 finish. But with five losses, they have equaled the number of defeats through eight games that they had in each of their previous three seasons.
Jones backed head coach Mike McCarthy, invoking Jimmy Johnson and 1989, when the team started 0-8 on its way to a 1-15 season.
“I’m good with Mike,” Jones said. “I know how hard he works. I like his football mind. I know how good he works. He’s got, in my mind, an outstanding coaching record. He’s really good with the players. They think highly of him. But he’s got a lot of fire in his belly. And so I’m just giving you this, I like the positives I see.
“And, by the way, frankly, some of the best coaches that I’ve been around, I got to see them when times were bad. We came in here with Herschel Walker playing for us our first year and hadn’t won anything and they’re all here to see Herschel and that guy [Johnson] took it and went to the house with it a few times, our coach there. I’ve had experience of having times when you were questioning and thinking about maybe you’d do it differently, but I’ve had good experience with staying with it.”
Jones appears ready to stick with running back Ezekiel Elliott, who was inactive because of disciplinary issues and did not make the trip to Atlanta. Sources said Elliott has missed meetings and there have been issues brewing.
“Zeke’s situation is clearly a team discipline situation,” McCarthy said. “We’ll pick up Monday and see where we are.” Jones lauded Elliott as a teammate despite his missing meetings.
“I look at the whole body of work. I look at his entire time that I’ve known him with the Cowboys, with his history in athletics,” Jones said. “And I’m good with these things, but you’ve got to have attendant consequences here. And that’s what got him.”
In the offseason, Jones said the Cowboys would be “all-in” this season; however, that did not lead to moves that would improve a roster that lost key players from last year’s 12-5 team.
He was asked again Sunday if he was all-in for 2024.
“Well, I am. I am,” Jones said. “And you say, ‘Boy, things are looking pretty bleak right here,’ but candidly, I’ve seen situations that look bleak turn around.”