IRVING, Texas –Sunday's loss in Seattle started and ended with flubs by Felix Jones. He fumbled the opening kickoff and fell on his face while running in the open field on the last play of the game.
To be fair, plenty of other players had their hand in the loss over the 59-plus minutes in between, but the poor day by the running back is a continuation of disappointment dating back to the beginning of training camp, when he didn't finish his conditioning test. Jones has been ineffective as a runner and struggled with drops over the past month and a half while seeing his role on the offense diminish significantly. He's carried the ball just once now on the season.
Midway through last year, the Cowboys made an example out of a veteran back who was providing diminished returns, Tashard Choice, but for now it doesn't sound like Jones is in danger of losing his job.
"I don't want to get into any of our players' job and how secure it is," head coach Jason Garrett said after the game. "Felix is a big part of our football team as a second back for us and also as a returner. He fumbled the ball on the opening kickoff of the game, but we'll go back and evaluate all of our players and what we did in this game, and make judgments going forward, but that has not come into our consciousness at all."
The Cowboys' third running back is second-year pro Phillip Tanner. Two rookies are on the practice squad as of now, the speedy Lance Dunbar and versatile Jamize Olawale.
