FRISCO, Texas – The first firing of the season is always bound to create some speculation.
With Washington dismissing Jay Gruden on Monday morning, it prompted a new conversation about job security. Specifically, the sports betting website SportsLine.com released odds that pegged Jason Garrett as the second-most likely NFL coach to be the next fired. Only Atlanta's Dan Quinn led Garrett's 4/1 odds.
Obviously, this subject isn't a new one, as Garrett is working on the final year of his contract, and speculation about his job security has followed him for years. Asked about it Tuesday morning on 105.3 FM The Fan, though, Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones rebuffed the idea pretty clearly.
"Well, yes, dispel it, yes. Don't bet any money against that happening -- you'll lose it," Jones said.
It hasn't been a great two weeks for the Cowboys, as they've dropped two consecutive games in ugly fashion – one due to a struggling offense and one due to a bevy of self-inflicted problems.
That said, it feels incredibly premature to speculate about Garrett's job status, given the Cowboys' 3-2 record and their top-ranked offense. Garrett would be the first to acknowledge his team can't afford many losing streaks if it hopes to reach the postseason.
Even still, Cowboys executives have been steadfast in their support for Garrett over time. In reviewing the 34-24 loss to Green Bay on Monday, team chief operating officer Stephen Jones confirmed the Cowboys' head coach isn't on any kind of hot seat.
"Absolutely not. He's done a great job with this team," he said. "As you saw yesterday, he had this team playing hard when that game could've gotten real ugly, when it was 31-3 there in the back end of the third quarter.
"He's got them playing hard, and we've just got to correct a few things and we'll be back in line. I totally believe that, I know Jerry believes it. Jason is just doing a great job with this team, and we'll correct what we need to correct and get ready to go win a lot of football games."
