After Dallas’ 27-23 win over the Colts on Sunday, Jones said that the result was “bittersweet” because of some mistakes and penalty struggles. He’s also recognized that the Cowboys’ play hasn’t been what they’ve expected this season, and the team has a big challenge coming up this coming Sunday with the 7-1 San Francisco 49ers.
How much does that weigh into Dallas not being aggressive and making a move at the deadline like they have in years past?
“I don’t know, I can’t answer that,” Jones said. “I don’t know. But I haven’t had a chance to really maneuver or think about or discuss back and forth with the team, we haven’t had a chance to have a meaningful dialogue here over the last two or three weeks about any player that we’d be interested in.”
While the Cowboys are unlikely to make a trade on Tuesday, Jones said they will be adding a running back via free agency. Tyler Goodson suffered a knee injury in Sunday’s game against Indianapolis and is expected to miss some time.
As the Cowboys brass likes to say often, player acquisition is a 365 day, 24/7 process. Trades or not, Dallas is always looking to get better at whatever position they can. When asked about position rooms that are areas of need, Jones didn’t narrow down to just one specifically.
“If I look at where we’re progressing on the defensive side of the ball, where we really have some encouragement coming, I wouldn’t name a position at all,” Jones said. “I’m sure a critic could look at it and say, ‘How about a little more [pass] rush? How about a little more pressure? How About a little more help in the flat?'”
“But overall, I would say that we’ve had our depletion from injuries, we’ve had it at linebacker and we’ve had it in the secondary. I’m pretty pleased with what we’ve done on the interior of our line, and I like the options we have at pass rush. We’re getting some pass rush. It’s paying off in the secondary positives, but we’re still getting some pass rushes.”
Last week, Cowboys CB Joey Porter Jr. (ankle/foot) and WR George Pickens (hamstring) were inactive against Indianapolis. With both heading into the final years of their respective contracts, Jones quickly shot down any speculation that their absence was anything “nefarious.”
“100% pure injury related. Put it to rest.” Jones said.
Now, the Cowboys will look to get Pickens, Porter and a number of other players healthy over the course of the week for a critical week 10 matchup against San Francisco.
