Officials penalized the Cowboys for unsportsmanlike conduct Sunday after coach Jason Garrett used some choice words to side judge Scott Edwards, who missed a catch by Amari Cooper along the team’s sideline.
Referee Ron Torbert said in a postgame pool report that Garrett was penalized for “abusive language,” not for spiking the red challenge flag in front of Edwards. That prompted a joke from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
“Oh, I hope the little darlin’ didn’t hear something he hadn’t heard before,” Jones said when reporters told him why Torbert said Garrett was penalized. “We should all have stopped the wheel over there if he got [upset] over abusive language.”
Jones doubled down on his radio show Tuesday, apparently unafraid of a possible fine from the league for criticizing officials.
“I’m all for realizing that we’re on television and realize that there’s young people and impressionable people listening,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. “But in general, if anybody thinks that’s a Marquess of Queensberry etiquette going out there on that football field, they haven’t been on a football field, especially in pro football. That’s pretty thin-skinned.”
Marquess of Queensberry Rules are a code of generally accepted rules in the sport of boxing.
The 27-yard completion from Dak Prescott to Cooper, initially ruled incomplete by Edwards, was overturned on replay after Garrett used his final challenge. The 15-yard penalty on Garrett, though, was marched off, leaving the Cowboys with a first-and-25 from their own 42.
Prescott completed a 26-yard pass to Ezekiel Elliott on the next play.