ARLINGTON, Texas – A few days removed from last weekend's NFL Draft, and just a couple of days away from getting to see the Cowboys' newest players on the field for a rookie minicamp, owner Jerry Jones was still rather upbeat about his team's draft, along with a few other topics of conversation.
Minutes after his speech as the keynote speaker for a Salvation Army luncheon at AT&T Stadium on Wednesday, Jones spoke to reporters on several topics about his team, starting with the draft.
- Jones said the Cowboys were able to add some depth at key spots. "I'm really pleased with the numbers of those offensive linemen, those linebackers and, yes, (Ryan) Russell – he gives us potential pass rush in there. I think he gives us a chance to have a really good defense."
Jones said Russell and, of course, second-round pick Randy Gregory, give the Cowboys an immediate pass-rush boost.
"We know what we all think of Rod Marinelli and his ability to scheme and work his defense," Jones said. "One thing you can't dial up very effectively, very many times, is that pressure. You do that with personnel, and I think we addressed it. I think certainly we've done enough to make a big difference in our pressure."
- When asked about the Cowboys' cornerbacks, particularly Brandon Carr, Jones reiterated his stance on the veteran cornerback who remains under contract. "I'm just not quite as critical of what Carr did last year as it might seem I should be," said Jones, who was asked to speak on his future as well as cornerback Morris Claiborne. "The bottom line is, right now they're being counted on."
When asked if the Cowboys have reached out to Carr and/or his agent about reducing his contract, Jones said, "I'm not going to get into that in what we're doing on his contract."
- Last month, Tony Romo spoke to an audience for a different charity event and playfully finished his speech with "We're going to win the Super Bowl this year." It's been a while since Jones has uttered such words, and while the owner didn't exactly piggyback his quarterback's thoughts, he said he understood the rationale.
"That's a statement that is real hard to live up to. No one knows it better than we do," Jones said. "But I understand it completely about what he's saying. He's got a lot of confidence. He feels good about our defense. No one in our organization was hollering defense more than Tony."
- And in some non-football news, Jones was asked if there has already been talk of bringing back the American Country Music Awards show to AT&T Stadium after the successful event last month.
"Well, before the ceremony we had certainly broached it and have talked, and anytime you do what we do here with other events, you have to look away ahead and you do your planning," Jones said. "We are so proud of the way that evolved and the way that came off that we certainly want an opportunity to look at it and maybe do it again."
When pressed if a future ACM show is on the AT&T Stadium calendar, Jones replied quickly,
"No, it's not on the calendar, but I can get it on there real quick."
