Cowboys' Jason Garrett: Players to sit if involved in domestic violence case

Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said that any of his players that are involved in any future domestic violence situations will not play, regardless of due process.

Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said that any of his players involved in future domestic violence situations will not play, regardless of due process.

Garrett was referring to how the NFL doled out punishment to former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice and Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy in their domestic violence cases.

Rice is appealing his indefinite suspension and Hardy was placed on the Exempt/Commissioner's Permission list, though the latter had initially been allowed to play with Carolina,

“Part of what our jobs are as coaches is to create the right environment for our players to function both on and off the field,” Garrett said, according to the Dallas Morning News. “So we need to be clear about where we are. We need to be clear that we have a structure in place to help anybody who has any off-the-field issues.

Garrett made those comments before news that Cowboys safety C.J. Spillman is being investigated by Grapevine, Texas, police in connection with an alleged sexual assault at the team's hotel in August.

“Me as a coach, position coaches, player programs, departments, we have a lot of resources here to help guys. So that was the first message, if you’re dealing with anything off the field and we can help with, we’re here for you,” Garrett said. “Having said that, there are standards that we have about all off-the-field behavior and certainly domestic violence applies to that. We’re just very clear with how we’re going to handle things.”

Spillman hasn't yet been disciplined by the Cowboys.

- Scooby Axson