| Jones: Cowboys can win 10 games 06/01/2001 By Jean-Jacques Taylor / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING – Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Thursday his team can win 10 games
and compete for a playoff spot this season.
That explains why he has refused to use "rebuilding" and "the Cowboys"
in the same sentence since the 2000 season ended.
"I believe we have the talent and ability to improve to the point that
we can win 10 ballgames, and the decisions that I'm making are based on
that," Jones said after the club's practice.
"Every time I've answered a rebuilding question it was like, 'get ready
for years of 1-15 and 3-13.' I wouldn't be giving you a straight answer
if I told you I thought that way."
Since 1997, the Cowboys are 29-35 in the regular season and have
finished above .500 once. Dallas went 5-11 last season missed the
playoffs for the second time in four seasons.
No team that has won as many as 10 games has missed the playoffs since
1991, when Philadelphia and San Francisco each failed to qualify for the
postseason.
Jones believes the Cowboys will improve significantly, though they
haven't made substantial personnel changes on either side of the ball.
On offense, quarterback Tony Banks, playing with his third team in four
years, is the most significant addition. On defense, the Cowboys could
have as many as five new starters.
Jones said he's counting on good health and good coaching to help the
Cowboys double their win total.
After all, the Cowboys played much of last season without starting
receivers Joey Galloway and Raghib Ismail, who each suffered
season-ending knee injuries. Future Hall of Fame quarterback Troy
Aikman, who recently retired, missed five games and parts of three
others with concussion and back injuries.
"Although we will miss Troy Aikman, we will not have some of the
week-to-week ambiguity that we dealt with at that position," Jones said.
"The talent may be less, but we'll have more continuity at that
position."
Better coaching and more team speed, said Jones, should significantly
improve the defense, which finished 31st in the NFL in run defense and
became the first team in NFL history to allow three 200-yard rushers in
a single season.
"When you look at our schedule, I think we'll surprise some people,"
Jones said. "We'll all be on the same page defensively in terms of what
we're trying to do, which will make us more consistent. I also like our
personnel."
Coach Dave Campo said Jones' high expectations don't bother him.
"It doesn't make a darned bit of difference to me because I put so much
pressure on myself," Campo said. "If we can play fast and tough
football, there's no reason why we can't be a good football team. But I
think people are being realistic when they asked what we've done."
No matter how the Cowboys fare on the field, Jones said he has no
intention of relinquishing his title of general manager, hiring someone
to help him in that role or reducing his duties to compensate for the
additional time he'll spend marketing the franchise and working out the
details for a new stadium.
"My first focus is on running our football team," Jones said. "Anybody
who does not understand that I can oversee the building of the new
stadium and the marketing aspect and, at the same time, make all of the
personnel decisions involving players and coaches doesn't have a good
grasp of how it works for millions of CEOs in this country."
Jones said he would be more inclined to have someone oversee the stadium
project and the marketing of the club so those responsibilities wouldn't
interfere with his responsibilities as general manager and owner.
"I hope no one out here thinks I'm going to be running retail stores
around town. I know how to push forward the concepts that we want to
do," Jones said. "I was very clear when I bought this team in 1989 that
I was going to run it. I've been very consistent and I've never deviated
from that."
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