Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said quarterback Dak Prescott was between Jared Goff and Cam Newton. Geographically at least, he nailed it.
But after a lackluster opener, the owner’s pumping up of his quarterback also seemed like an indirect shot at the team’s play-calling, though he remained positive.
“I think we have a dimension in Dak with him being able to run the ball, you saw what Cam Newton does with that,” Jones said during his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan. “Norv Turner, who can be as traditional a play-caller as you can ever imagine, was doing a great job of using Cam.
“We’ve got a quarterback that is somewhere between [Jared Goff] and Cam Newton. He can do some of what both of those guys do. You’re going to see it.”
It’s hard to see it after Sunday’s 16-8 loss to the Panthers, in which the Cowboys gained 60 yards in the first half, didn’t cross midfield until the third quarter, and Prescott finished with 170 passing yards and was sacked six times.
It was the seventh time in the last nine games Prescott threw for under 200 yards, and after jettisoning Dez Bryant and the sudden retirement of Jason Witten, it’s hard to see enough targets for a significant reversal.
But when asked about the team’s receivers, Jones said they didn’t play poorly: “They did get separation. We just didn’t get the ball to them.”
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett has defended offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, saying he had “a tremendous amount of faith” in his play-caller, and had no intention of taking that job over. But it’s clear the owner thinks something needs to change, if only their utilization of Prescott as a runner.