Jerry Jones didn’t bite when asked about Dak Prescott’s frustration after the Cowboys’ ugly 24-16 loss to Tampa Bay. If anything, the Dallas owner leaned into the idea that fans are entitled to speak up when the product falls short.
Prescott had taken issue with a third-party contractor calling the defeat “embarrassing” as he walked past inside the stadium, but Jones brushed the whole episode aside during his Tuesday appearance on 105.3 The Fan.
“It doesn't impact me at all,” Jones said, per Jon Machota of The Athletic. “The driver in question was not an employee.
Fans can express themselves, and should express themselves. Whether he was our employee or not, he was a fan, it sounds like.
So, I'm for our fans expressing themselves.”
That loss dropped Dallas to 2-3, and the Cowboys were beaten in ways that stung beyond the scoreboard. Tampa Bay came in at 0-4 with undrafted rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels, yet still gashed Dallas for 241 rushing yards and 419 total yards in Week 5.
Jones also addressed the state of his defense and the changes happening around first-year coordinator Christian Parker. On Monday, the Cowboys added longtime NFL coach Mike Pettine as a senior defensive assistant to work with Parker, and there has been outside criticism about Parker’s grasp of the job after the season’s first five weeks. One longtime league executive told Jason La Canfora in a Casino Guru News article that Parker looked “over his head.”
Jones pushed back on that line of thinking, according to Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News, though he did confirm one notable shift: Parker will move from the sideline to the booth for the Cowboys’ “Sunday Night Football” game at the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 18.
The numbers around Dallas’ defense tell the story of why the conversation has gotten so loud. ESPN stats had the Cowboys entering Tuesday ranked 31st in yards allowed per game at 395.4, 25th in points allowed at 27.2 per contest and 30th with five sacks on the season.
Jones also revisited the Micah Parsons trade after spending previous weeks praising the moves he made following the star pass-rusher’s departure to Green Bay in August 2025. This time, he stood by the deal and the way Dallas has used the draft capital that came back.
“We did not underestimate (Parsons') ability,” Jones insisted, per Machota. “It was reinforced when Green Bay gave us all the picks that we got.
We're on plan with how we're using those picks. We want to have that show up in success with wins on the field.
But nothing about that has surprised me at all. And we wish Micah the best.”
Parsons will not face the Cowboys this week because he is still recovering from the torn ACL he suffered last December. After Jones’ radio appearance ended, DraftKings Sportsbook listed Dallas as a 1.5-point road underdog for Sunday’s game at Green Bay.
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