Dallas City News

Jake Ferguson ‘trusts the process’ will pay off for Cowboys after rough start – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com

The Dallas Cowboys tight end spoke about how the team can put their rough start in the rearview mirror.

“I think, after that game, we came in and cleaned up,” said the Pro Bowl tight end. “After that Detroit game, we really got down to it. Then [we] had a couple more meetings after that, and then kind of flushed it like, ‘OK, stop thinking about football for a couple of days. Make sure your body does get right.’”

For Ferguson, that involved some added rest for a mild MCL sprain that cost him one of the six contests – making it clear “if I’m not 100 percent right now, I’m at least 99”. Physically, that’s great news for the Cowboys, but it doesn’t change the fact the offense remains disjointed in the red zone, where most of their stalls and turnovers have occurred since Week 1.

Each giveaway and/or failure to score a touchdown is a teaching tool but, for Ferguson, it’s not about overhauling the entire classroom.

“I think that’s important every week — having a flush win or lose,” he said. “It’s the NFL. You are going to play one of the best guys on the best 32 teams and you’ve got to be sharp with whatever you’re doing. So you can’t sleep, you can’t say, ‘Oh, we won this week. It’s going to be good. Oh, we lost this week. I got to do this much stuff.’

“No, stay on your process, add a little stuff here and there, but don’t make it too crazy or don’t try to go the extra mile. Stay on your process, trust it.”

Troy Aikman subtly shades Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones for not signing Derrick Henry – Brandon Contes, Awful Announcing

The Cowboys front office continues to lose on any conversations around Derrick Henry.

Troy Aikman might love the Dallas Cowboys, but the Hall-of-Fame quarterback has been delivering some tough love in recent weeks.

During a radio appearance on The Ticket in Dallas last week, Aikman called out the Cowboys wide receiving core for running “lazy” routes off the line of scrimmage, a criticism head coach Mike McCarthy was later asked to respond to. And although the Cowboys weren’t playing during Monday Night Football, Aikman still appeared to take a subtle jab at his old team while calling the game between the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on ESPN.

With Baltimore leading Tampa Bay 27-10 late in the third quarter, Ravens 30-year-old running back Derrick Henry took off for an 81-yard run.

“There’s gotta be a lot of teams out there who had opportunities to bring in Derrick Henry that are kinda kicking themselves for not doing it,” Aikman said shortly after Henry’s big gain.

Aikman didn’t name any teams directly, but he didn’t need to. It’s the Cowboys. They’re the team who had an opportunity to bring Henry in that should undoubtedly be kicking themselves for not doing so. Henry appeared on The Pivot Podcast earlier this year and stated signing with Dallas, where he lives, would’ve been the “perfect situation.” But according to Henry, the Cowboys “never reached out.”

10 fairytale trades ahead of the 2024 NFL trade deadline – Bradley Locker, Pro Football Focus

Dallas isn’t likely to trade for anyone at the deadline, but it’s fun to imagine a reality in which they do and for whom.

RB Travis Etienne Jr. to the Cowboys

The Jaguars have remained one of the most confusing teams in the NFL over the last two years, and things appear to have hit a boiling point under Doug Pederson. What should be a playoff-caliber roster is now a disjointed team, and that likely means pieces will be moved.

Jacksonville sits eighth in rushing EPA per play, in part due to the breakout of Tank Bigsby, whose 82.5 rushing grade ranks ninth among players with 50-plus carries. In turn, Etienne could be expendable.

Etienne hasn’t looked as effective in 2024. His rushing grade has dropped 13 points; only eight of his 55 carries have gone for 10-plus yards; and his Elusiveness ranks 42nd out of 50 ‘backs with 30-plus carries.

Still, a team that would love adding a player like Etienne is the Cowboys. Dallas’ rushing game has been woeful all season, ranking 29th in team rushing grade with the second-fewest explosive rushes in the NFL. The combination of Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott has fared as most expected, with neither recording a running grade above 69.0.

Given that Etienne is only under contract for one more year, the odds of Jacksonville trading him are higher than others on this list. If he were to be dealt, Jerry Jones would definitely be lining up.

In return to radio, Jerry Jones made it clear these Dallas Cowboys are not in a good place – Calvin Watkins, Dallas Morning News

Owner Jerry Jones shares his thoughts after sitting on the team’s 3-3 record during the bye.

“Our situation is more about, frankly, it’s more about holding your blocks, it’s more about not making mistakes,” he said. “It’s more about, in my mind, the receivers running through a tough man-to-man coverage and running on through it, and, if you will, get away from that. The types of things that we all think we should be looking at is [are] we designing bad plays or we’re designing bad concepts? The facts are that there’s some of that, but there’s also some of execution. There are some of the talent. I like our talent. I really do like our talent. I like our young talent, but young talent has a few more mistakes associated with it than if you are dealing with a veteran player, although you’ve got to have young talent.”

You can disagree with Jones saying Henry wouldn’t fit within the confines of the Cowboys’ salary cap, but please don’t dismiss what he’s saying about the running back’s expected results on the football field.

Henry wasn’t going to fit with the West Coast offense. At least the way Mike McCarthy calls it.

This isn’t anything against the Cowboys head coach, but history shows he’s never had a running back like Henry.

Who has, right?

“In my mind, we’re not playing very good football right now at all and it’s beyond whether or not we have Derrick Henry or not,” Jones said. “Derrick Henry is having a career year. I don’t know if he’d be having that career year in our situation.”