Stephen Jones on the Cowboys’ large number of penalties, technology in NFL officiating and more
Executive vice president Stephen Jones recently joined the K&C Masterpiece on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM] to discuss all things Cowboys. Here are some of the highlights, edited for clarity:
How did Dak Prescott not score a touchdown? Also, isn’t there better technology to determine whether the ball crosses the plane in a scrum?
Jones: “First of all, I think the reason it wasn’t reviewed was they made a quick call that they weren’t going to see the ball. You could see obviously that Dak’s body had gotten into the end zone pretty good, but there was no clear-cut way to tell where the ball was. You can always assume where it is, but that’s not the basis for replay. I think that’s why I’ve gotten the question a lot: why wouldn’t they at least stop the game and replay it? I think they looked quickly and saw there wasn’t going to be a good picture of the ball. So, you have to go with what’s called on the field. Obviously, there’s technology that’s out there that’s coming along. There’s chips that are in the balls and you have to see how accurate they’re ultimately going to be. You got to have if you’re going to go to something like that it’s got to be accurate. So, it’s in progress but obviously not to the point where we’re using it yet. It’s going to have to be top of the line technology for us to get to the point, but I think it will sooner than later where you can figure out exactly where the ball should be, whether it’s a line to gain or a touchdown, those type of things. I think that technology is coming.”
What can you do to lessen penalties going forward?
Jones: “I think it’s just turn on the tape and go to work and see where we can be better with our technique. We all know, which was a big part of the game last night, the offensive holding calls were really at the root of this... Know those officials are out there doing the very best job they can be. The biggest thing you hear on the competition committee from coaches from GMs, from people around the league, is everybody just wants consistency. And I know they’re trying to provide that and sometimes you feel like they weren’t as consistent as they could have been. That happens every Sunday and every team is going to have feelings one way or the other on that. That’s the nature of our game.”
On the speed Ezekiel Elliott has regained...
Jones: “He’s the ultimate competitor. I think last year with the pandemic there were a lot of moving parts in terms of not being able to have your offseason programs, not knowing if you’re going to play football or not. So, that was a tough year last year, and we certainly could have done a better job all the way around, whether it’s our players, whether it’s our coaches, our organization. When we end up where we ended up last year, it shows we could have been better. But I do think Zeke is playing at a very high level. He’s always been a fierce competitor and he’s dialed in with this team. He and Tony Pollard are doing a great job taking care of that running back spot, and certainly it opened things up for Dak and the receivers the success they’ve been having the last three or four games running the ball. Right now, the level we’re playing, you got to pick what you want to do, and when you pick it, it does leave other opportunities open for other players if they’re going to line up, not unlike they did last night and really working on stopping the run, which, hats off to New England. They did a good job for the most part of stopping the run, but certainly, Dak and our receiving corps were able to take advantage of opportunities that were there because of the focus on the running game.”
Did you expect that much from Randy Gregory after missing so much time?
Jones: “I’ll start with you always do with Randy: what an amazing job he’s done with himself as a person off the field. We all know when he was coming out and that’s why we took a gamble. What a great player he was and all the potential he had. You knew you had a good feeling in there that there was a great football player in there, but he had to obviously get some other things about his business straightened out. Certainly hats off to him. He’s done that in spades. And now obviously his play on the field is starting to show up as well. No, I think he’s exceeded all expectations in terms of his return. No one deserves it more than he does. He’s very detailed in his work. He’s turned into a leader on this football team. He plays with a lot of energy, he plays hard, and he’s the type of football player you look to have on your football team.”
Were you impressed you won a game you shouldn’t? Did it feel like yesterday wasn’t your day?
Jones: “Really I think anytime, and hats off to Dak, we feel this way — anytime he’s healthy and playing at the level he’s playing at, you feel like you’re going to win the game. Have all the confidence in him and confidence in our defense. Had a few tough things happen early where they got out to 14 points quickly, but then I think we got dialed in on defense and were holding them down pretty good. And then of course were moving the ball. It was just we were having some tough breaks in terms of translating those yards into points. But really felt like we would overcome that and felt like they were going in a good direction there. But I’m glad we were able to finish it and felt good once we got them stopped and the offense had the ball that we would get a great opportunity to go down there and go put the game away.”
Do you like the bye week where it is?
Jones: “I think we’re good, especially obviously with having a little question mark with Dak. It’s good that he will have a couple of weeks here. Of course, you know, we have several players on the IR designated to return. This will give them time to put another week behind them, and I think you’ll see maybe a few guys rejoining practice after the bye. So, I think it’s as good as any and we’ll take advantage of this and I know Mike [McCarthy] will do a great job getting their feet back up under them and getting them ready to play a very competitive Vikings team. We obviously have the utmost respect for Coach [Mike] Zimmer and know that they are going to be a handful as well when we travel up there to play the Vikings.”
Click here to listen to the full interview.
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