FRISCO, Texas – Given the nature of the conversations happening around the Cowboys right now, Jerry Jones had his answers ready.
The Cowboys' owner and general manager was asked plenty of tough questions in the wake of his team's Week 3 loss to Seattle on Tuesday morning. He summed them up pretty succinctly.
"I think your question is, have I hit the panic button, and the answer is no," Jones said.
That was more or less the theme for Jones' weekly Tuesday interview on 105.3 FM The Fan, as the Cowboys work to find answers for an offense that has slumped to 30th in the league in yards per game and 31st in the league in scoring.
Asked if he had any plan on making some sort of big change, though -- like having Cowboys coach Jason Garrett take over play calling duties – Jones was emphatic.
"No, there have not been any discussions or plans to have him become the play-caller," he said.
Considering the way this season has started, it's not surprising that Jones would be fielding these questions so soon. The Cowboys are averaging 13.7 points per game during their first three outings, which is their worst average in the first three games of a season since 1990.
They are also 1-2 for the first time since 2010 and for just the second time since 2002 – two years in which they finished below .500.
But for all the panic going on around outside the Cowboys' facility, Jones said he has confidence they can correct their problems. He also had a direct answer when asked why.
"I like our players. I like our coaching staff," he said. "I think we've got players that can -- we've seen them perform the way if they can play at those levels. And you can go right down through the positions, through the offensive line. Yes, you can go to the receivers."
That might not be a response that is well-received, but it makes sense. As bad as they have looked on offense, the Cowboys are still just three games into their season. On top of that, Jones was sure to point out all the new components to his coaching staff, evidencing his willingness to shake things up.
"I won't criticize us for not making changes when last year we actually made eight, you might call it nine, coaching changes on this staff," he said. "We've had a dramatic change in the coaching staff from last year to this year."
With that in mind, it doesn't sound like any shakeup is coming. Instead, Jones said the plan is pretty straightforward.
"What we need to do is play better in areas," he said. "We need to get some big plays. We've got to start getting some turnovers. That alone with our game Sunday would have determined, you say, the outcome of this game."
