IRVING, Texas – Cowboys season ticket holders had a chance to speak with owner/general manager Jerry Jones on Thursday. Jones participated in a conference call open to all season ticket holders, talking for roughly an hour with a line of more than 1,000 callers.
Here are some of the highlights from the call:
On new tight end draftee Gavin Escobar:
"There are qualities of every player. The thing that excited us about Escobar, was, teamed with Witten, and his athletic ability to catch the ball. Picture Romo buying some time, we're in the redzone, and throwing that ball up with Escobar on the run, catching it back over his shoulder or making a circus catch. We had that to some degree with Martellus Bennett, but it was not consistent.
Escobar along with Hanna, and of course Witten, will allow us to really give defenses fits."
On the availability of Tim Tebow:
"We feel really good about Kyle Orton, and that's where it all starts and stops right there … What we need to look at in quarterback is what we may be doing at third quarterback, and that remains to be seen."
On Tony Romos' increased role:
"It is significant that Romo has made an additional commitment … this implies that Romo was kind of taking it easy, which is the farthest thing from the truth. But there's a big difference when the quarterback gets in there with the coaches on an everyday basis and looks hundreds of plays over the last couple of years of a particular opponent. Romo is going to be involved.
On the health of Jay Ratliff:
"We don't think Jay Ratliff is injury prone. He had possibly three different injuries last year, and he is farther down the road in his career, obviously, than he was three years ago. But we think that he's very sound physically. He will flourish, and I emphasize the word flourish, in this defensive scheme. He is a natural three technique."
On DeMarcus Ware in the 4-3 defensive scheme:
"He's going to be rushing, stunting, and rushing the passer all the time. To me that's the best use – I'm smiling – of DeMarcus Ware … What this will enable us to do is better use Ratliff. Ratliff is going to require some attention that, maybe in 3-4, he didn't get quite as much … They'll have to leave somebody singled up."
On the outsides of the offensive line:
"We certainly, as we speak, have [Doug] Free. But we've got a player named [Jeremy] Parnell that has just intrigued and developed and developed, and is one of the most driven players that we've seen." [embedded_ad]
On urgency in 2013:
"Certainly we should and will have the future in mind, but this draft was to get these players on the field right now. Because that's the emphasis we're putting on this game against the Giants to start, and that's the emphasis we're putting on the current situation. Romo got the money that I gave him because of right now."
On Dez Bryant's development off-field:
"I think it's going very well, and the only reason you would not say 'great,' is because I'll say great, and tomorrow morning I'll get a call from the red phone beside the bed, so to speak. But it is going great. He is evolving with his maturity."
