OXNARD, Calif. – No one has ever been able to Jerry Jones takes a glass-half-empty approach.
Once again, the always-optimistic Cowboys owner/GM was in good spirits again in Thursday's opening press conference of training camp in Oxnard.
While he understands the criticism that comes from the fans and media about the team's lack of overall success in the playoffs, particularly last year's deflating loss to the Packers, Jones took a more positive approach when asked why fans should have hope for the 2024 team.
"What do we have 14 Pro Bowlers," Jones rhetorically asked his PR director next to him. "And 12 All-Pros. We have an outstanding team."
The count is every player on the current roster who have made a Pro Bowl or All-Pro, including guys such as Ezekiel Elliott and Eric Kendricks, who both haven't earned those accolades since 2019. But for the most part, the rest of the list is made up of players who have accomplished those feats in the last two years. Last season, the Cowboys ended up with 10 Pro Bowl players.
Either way, the makeup of the roster is something that ultimately excites Jones, who said he is much more focused on getting his team better for the end of the season, than how it might look right now with players such as CeeDee Lamb not even in camp because of a contract holdout.
"I'm more about winning the award for best way to win the season than winning the award for showing up at camp with my house in order. I'm worried about ending the season than I am a fast start," Jones said. "I'm all in to having that game come out different than the last one we played. What I will say, when I look at our roster an look at where we are and look at the quality of our coaches, I will say that I like as much or better than any time, how we're going to be hanging around the rim. So when we get to that game, we can come out with a different result. I think we're very positioned."
Make no mistake, Jones was not saying that making the playoffs is a foregone conclusion. He said he understands the difficulty of getting the team among one of the best. But based off the players and coaches, Jones reiterated his belief on the team being good enough to get there, and hopefully taking the next step.
"You have to be up there and around there, to have a better result. A big question, do you think you've got a chance to have better results when we get there," Jones said. "I don't want to sound and be trite about getting there. It's a big deal. I want you to know, as much as you might criticize me for it, I take a lot of solace in having the 12-win seasons over we've had over the last several years. The fact we have the personnel and coaches that we have in camp. I take a lot of solace that we have a chance to go to the playoffs and do better."
Cowboys chief operating officer Stephen Jones added his acknowledgement of the high expectations from the fans, stating the team has a similar mindset.
"No one is more frustrated than we are," Stephen Jones said. "As Jerry said, the only thing that matters is that last game."
For now, the last game is the Cowboys' Wild Card loss to Green Bay. But a new training camp signals a new start to the season, one that kicks off Thursday with the first practice out in Oxnard.
