Jerry Jones Gets Incredibly Honest About the State of Struggling Cowboys

The owner and general manager only has a handful of days to work with before the trade deadline.

Jones's Cowboys are 3–4 heading into a road tilt against the Falcons on Sunday. / Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Dallas Cowboys have limped through the first eight weeks of the 2024 season to a 3–4 record heading into a matchup Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

It hasn't been pretty. Dak Prescott, fresh off signing a four-year contract extension in September, has registered a career-worst 84.5 passer rating through seven games and doesn't look as mobile as he used to. The Cowboys' offense ranks dead last in rushing yards per game (74.1) and has coughed up the ball 13 times, the fourth-most turnovers in the NFL.

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones openly discussed his team's shortcomings during a radio appearance Friday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas.

"Well, I think we're having a rougher go than I anticipated," Jones said. "Let's put it like that... But having me in the loop has to be there. It is rougher and I did not anticipate the challenges that we're having with this team, but I am reminded of teams that I've seen that have had a lot of success and put themselves in position to take a shot and they were 3–4.

"When I look at the whys that we're here, I really have a tough time getting past just sheer youth, sheer inexperience on the offensive line. And I have a tough time getting past that turnover [ratio]. ... It really is a plus that we've won three games."

Jones has one more chance to improve the Cowboys' roster before the 2024 NFL trade deadline at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Although he's swung big midseason deals in the past—the Amari Cooper trade in 2018, for example—Jones said earlier this month that Dallas won't be too active at the deadline. But the 82-year-old appeared to walk back those comments on Friday.

"We look for all meat and bone out here that can improve our team," Jones said.

The Cowboys square off against the Falcons on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET—a matchup that Prescott called a "must-win game" on Thursday. It appears his boss agrees.

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