Jags Crush Cowboys - But Now Comes Most Crushing Part of NFL

Sunday's NFL preseason game wasn't really about the Jaguars. It was about how the Cowboys will cut down to 53.

Did more preseason time mean less difficult decisions?

Unfortunately for the Dallas Cowboys, no it doesn't look like it quite works that way.

The Cowboys this summer got an extra preseason game and extra time to make roster decisions. And it would be nice if Sunday's preseason-closing, third-string-occupied 34-14 loss at AT&T Stadium against the Jacksonville Jaguars provided clarity.

But the only thing really made clear is that Jacksonville has a stud rookie QB in the Aikmanesque Trevor Lawrence ... and that the Cowboys are a little shy in The Stud Department when it comes to who plays QB behind Sunday observer Dak Prescott.

Cowboys COO Stephen Jones has this summer frequently suggested that Dallas has 65 legit NFL players on this roster as Dallas preps for the Tuesday NFL cutdown from 80 to 53. Even if you think Jones is inflating the abilities of his fourth-stringers, this much is true: It's a painful time.

As Cowboys coach McCarthy said after the game: “These are the worst days. The next 48 hours is clearly the worst part of the job.”

The Cowboys' "best part of the job''? That comes in the NFL season-opener Thursday, Sept. 9 at Tampa. A real game with real players. But what the Joneses, McCarthy, scouting boss Will McClay and the rest of the Cowboys brass must now do is real enough.

Are the defensive tackles here stout enough? Is rookie corner Kelvin Joseph (who left with a groin problem) OK? Did Garrett Gilbert or Cooper Rush separate in the race to be Dak Prescott's QB backup? Do they have a swing tackle? Do they keep a third running back?

McCarthy said earlier this week, "You have a personnel department opinion, you have the coaching department’s opinion, and then you have the finance component of it, too. All those things have to come together to make the best decision that you can.”

Best decisions. Hard decisions.

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