Though the Cowboys hold the NFL’s No. 1 ranked passing offense and No. 2 ranked scoring offense this season, they have often been held back by their defense, which is second-last in the NFL in total yards, passing yards and points allowed per game.
Despite the team’s defensive woes, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hasn’t necessarily been prioritizing fixing things on that side of the ball.
When asked on 105.3 The Fan about possibly trading for a linebacker to boost the defense ahead of the deadline next week, Jones replied, "Not necessarily. Not at all. But possibly so. Now, how about that for an answer?"
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week, Jones said, “There’s $100 billion present value with [natural] gas out there. That’s why I’m talking to you on the telephone rather than trying to fix our defense with the Dallas Cowboys.”
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said Thursday of those comments from Jones to WSJ, “I don’t know the full context of it. I do know a piece of it. But being a fan and you just hear that or read that, yeah, of course. … That can definitely be frustrating,” via Jon Machota of The Athletic.
“But in that sense, I would just say, the guy has never really lied about who he is or what he’s trying to do,” Prescott added. “Hopefully he was talking about in that one particular moment. Maybe in those five minutes is what he was alluding to, and having a chance at a $100 billion opportunity I think you might take five minutes as well to answer a call. Hopefully that’s what he means, right? But I could see how it could be frustrating.”
Per Machota, Prescott did also acknowledge Thursday that trading for a player can “definitely help,” but that he tells his teammates in the locker room to what they can to “shut that talk up.”
For now, Prescott and the 3-4-1 Cowboys remain focused on their upcoming Monday night matchup against the Cardinals.
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