Jerry Jones is pushing back hard on the idea that he won’t spend big for the right coach, even after taking heat for comments that suggested otherwise.
“The facts are I have been out there, and I have been trying to lure very successful coaches away from the teams they were on and knew full well that I was going to pay them for their success,” he said. “So that has been done.
No one knows that, but I do. And so it is absolutely ridiculous.
And I actually grin when somebody says, ‘Jerry’s not willing to pay the money for what it would take to get the right kind of coach out there.’”
The Cowboys, meanwhile, are heading into a big one against the Colts with their roster taking some hits. Wide receiver and kick returner KaVontae Turpin (ribs) and rookie outside linebacker Malachi Lawrence (ankle) did not practice this week and have been ruled out for Sunday’s game. Dallas hit the field Friday for its final workout before traveling to Indianapolis on Saturday.
That injury picture comes as the NFL trade deadline draws closer, and the Cowboys are at least being discussed as a team that could make a move. Stephen Jones pointed to one area in particular when asked what could help most.
Q: Which position or positions do you think could help the team the most right now?
Jones: “Yeah I think it’s one everybody talks [about], obviously a pressure player could help us. After that, we took care of business earlier in the year with [Joey Porter Jr.].
It’s unfortunate he’s been missing some time. No excuses, because everybody has injuries, but no question it hurt us not having him or Caleb [Downs] in the game there in that quarter as well.”
Defensively, Dallas is showing more life getting after the quarterback, but the next step is turning that pressure into takeaways. The Cowboys need that against Daniel Jones on Sunday, since pressure has bothered him all season. Quinnen Williams has been the standout in terms of collapsing the pocket and affecting the quarterback, and Dallas is expected to let him loose again.
On the offensive side, last week’s situational football against the Cardinals left the Cowboys looking ordinary, and the frustration spilled over. CeeDee Lamb is a veteran and not the kind of player to publicly go after his head coach, but his comments made it clear something was bothering him. Whether that frustration was aimed at execution or at Brian Schottenheimer’s conservative, predictable approach, the tension was hard to miss.
In Other News...
Brandon Aubrey Just Added Fuel To A Cowboys Offensive Debate
Brandon Aubrey has become one of the more interesting voices around the Cowboys offense, even if his job description remains the same. In a recent interview, the kicker talked through how he prepares and how he sees the flow of games, offering a perspective that naturally comes with standing on the sideline and watching drives unfold. He stopped short of speaking for the coaching staff, but his read on the situation was clear enough: once Dallas gets into field goal range, the decision-making can get more conservative.
That view lands in the middle of a broader debate about how aggressive the Cowboys should be when drives stall near scoring territory. Through Week 9, Dallas had attempted the fewest fourth-down conversions inside field goal range, a number that fits the cautious approach Aubrey described. It is the kind of detail that does not settle the argument on its own, but it does add another layer to how the Cowboys are weighing risk, points and the trust they place in their own offense. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Defense Keeps Making The Micah Parsons Debate Even Worse
The Micah Parsons trade has only grown harder to defend as the Cowboys head into Week 9 against the Indianapolis Colts. Dallas sent Parsons to Green Bay in 2025 for Kenny Clark, and the move was supposed to help reshape the defense, but the unit has not looked the part since losing one of the leagues most disruptive players.
Brian Baldinger recently pointed to the Cowboys defensive struggles as a major reason the team has slid to a 3-5 record and faces an uphill climb in the playoff race. With the season already hanging in the balance, every rough stretch on that side of the ball seems to reopen the same uncomfortable question about what Dallas gave up and what it has gotten back. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Rookie Surge Comes With One Growing Concern On Defense
Eight games into the season, the Cowboys rookie defensive class has given the front office plenty to like, even if the picture is not perfectly clean yet. Caleb Downs has settled in with steady, reliable work and a knack for showing up around the ball, while Jaishawn Barham flashed early enough to suggest real upside before his recent play cooled off. There is enough there to believe Dallas found some long-term pieces, especially with the way the group has already contributed in meaningful spots.
The concern is that the rookies are no longer all trending in the same direction, which matters on a defense that needs young players to keep growing as the season wears on. Malachi Lawrence had also been part of that encouraging start before an ankle issue knocked him out of the mix, and now the Cowboys are left balancing what they have already seen against what still needs to develop. For a team trying to build depth and consistency on that side of the ball, the early returns are promising, but the next stretch will say a lot about how sustainable this rookie surge really is. [Read more 🡒]