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Orsborn: Forget Jones' hype, Dallas has big problems up front
Forget Jones' hype, Dallas has big problems up front
By Tom Orsborn, Express-News columnist
Updated 12:07 a.m., Wednesday, August 15, 2012
OAKLAND, Calif. — When it comes to the Cowboys' prospects this season, Jason Garrett's feet are planted firmly on the ground.
His boss? As usual, Jerry Jones is floating around somewhere in the stratosphere.
But Jones says that's the way it should be. He believes it's his job as owner to hype, while coaches downplay expectations knowing their jobs could be at risk if they raise the bar high only to watch their teams stumble.
“I'm the opposite,” Jones said. “I'm in the business of wanting people to be excited about our team.”
That's why Jones can't ever be taken too seriously when he's speaking in his role as general manager, which brings us to his latest assessment of the offensive line.
From Jones' perspective, everything looks fine up front.
“(Right guard) Mackenzy Bernadeau is really looking promising,” Jones said. “(Backup guard) Derrick Dockery is looking better. (Center) Phil Costa is someone that has certainly raised the eyes of (offensive line coach) Bill Callahan.
“So I think that we're better in the interior.”
Amazingly, Jones kept his rose-colored glasses on even after Monday night's 3-0 preseason win over the Raiders.
“Ideally, you'd like to have (scored a touchdown), but the answer is no,” Jones said when asked if he was concerned with the performance of the first-team offense in the preseason opener.
“I really liked what I saw individually from the offensive line. I had a chance to sit with John Madden and watch the offensive line in the second half, and that's his specialty there, where he likes to look, and he saw some of our guys do good.”
With all due respect to Madden, that's a tough sell. Bernadeau is coming off hip and knee surgeries, Dockery is 31 and was out of work until Dallas signed him Aug. 4, and the undersized Costa is easily pushed around.
Then there's backup center David Arkin, who let Oakland's Tommy Kelly burst into the backfield untouched to sack quarterback Tony Romo.
Pretty bleak, isn't it? And we haven't even mentioned that left guard Nate Livings has been out since the third day of camp with a hamstring injury, backup center Bill Nagy faces season-ending ankle surgery, Tyron Smith is playing left tackle for the first time as a pro, and right tackle Doug Free is coming off a disappointing season.
Add it all up, and the odds of Romo remaining healthy seem about as good as the chances of Roger Goodell and Jonathan Vilma hanging out together.
And don't forget the schedule includes AFC North bullies Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
Still, Jones is confident the team will rise from the muck of mediocrity it's been mired in for years. His reasons for being optimistic hinge largely on his belief the club is loaded with stars in their prime, including Romo, and that Garrett is a much better coach entering his second full season on the job.
“And I will say this: I'm also betting on it because I just can't accept standing right here that we will be as disappointing as we were last year,” Jones said, referring to an 8-8, stay-at-home finish despite Romo enjoying his best season.
“I can't accept that, because I know that it was my most disappointing year as a Cowboy, and we can't have individual players play at the level they did last year and not do better.
“I mean, I can without any stretch of imagination see where we could have been where the Giants were as far as getting into the tournament (with a 9-7 record) and then turning around and having some of that success. That's not hard for me to reach there, and I don't have any problem saying that publicly.”
Of course, he doesn't. Not when it's all about getting people excited about his team.
Forget Jones' hype, Dallas has big problems up front
By Tom Orsborn, Express-News columnist
Updated 12:07 a.m., Wednesday, August 15, 2012
OAKLAND, Calif. — When it comes to the Cowboys' prospects this season, Jason Garrett's feet are planted firmly on the ground.
His boss? As usual, Jerry Jones is floating around somewhere in the stratosphere.
But Jones says that's the way it should be. He believes it's his job as owner to hype, while coaches downplay expectations knowing their jobs could be at risk if they raise the bar high only to watch their teams stumble.
“I'm the opposite,” Jones said. “I'm in the business of wanting people to be excited about our team.”
That's why Jones can't ever be taken too seriously when he's speaking in his role as general manager, which brings us to his latest assessment of the offensive line.
From Jones' perspective, everything looks fine up front.
“(Right guard) Mackenzy Bernadeau is really looking promising,” Jones said. “(Backup guard) Derrick Dockery is looking better. (Center) Phil Costa is someone that has certainly raised the eyes of (offensive line coach) Bill Callahan.
“So I think that we're better in the interior.”
Amazingly, Jones kept his rose-colored glasses on even after Monday night's 3-0 preseason win over the Raiders.
“Ideally, you'd like to have (scored a touchdown), but the answer is no,” Jones said when asked if he was concerned with the performance of the first-team offense in the preseason opener.
“I really liked what I saw individually from the offensive line. I had a chance to sit with John Madden and watch the offensive line in the second half, and that's his specialty there, where he likes to look, and he saw some of our guys do good.”
With all due respect to Madden, that's a tough sell. Bernadeau is coming off hip and knee surgeries, Dockery is 31 and was out of work until Dallas signed him Aug. 4, and the undersized Costa is easily pushed around.
Then there's backup center David Arkin, who let Oakland's Tommy Kelly burst into the backfield untouched to sack quarterback Tony Romo.
Pretty bleak, isn't it? And we haven't even mentioned that left guard Nate Livings has been out since the third day of camp with a hamstring injury, backup center Bill Nagy faces season-ending ankle surgery, Tyron Smith is playing left tackle for the first time as a pro, and right tackle Doug Free is coming off a disappointing season.
Add it all up, and the odds of Romo remaining healthy seem about as good as the chances of Roger Goodell and Jonathan Vilma hanging out together.
And don't forget the schedule includes AFC North bullies Pittsburgh and Baltimore.
Still, Jones is confident the team will rise from the muck of mediocrity it's been mired in for years. His reasons for being optimistic hinge largely on his belief the club is loaded with stars in their prime, including Romo, and that Garrett is a much better coach entering his second full season on the job.
“And I will say this: I'm also betting on it because I just can't accept standing right here that we will be as disappointing as we were last year,” Jones said, referring to an 8-8, stay-at-home finish despite Romo enjoying his best season.
“I can't accept that, because I know that it was my most disappointing year as a Cowboy, and we can't have individual players play at the level they did last year and not do better.
“I mean, I can without any stretch of imagination see where we could have been where the Giants were as far as getting into the tournament (with a 9-7 record) and then turning around and having some of that success. That's not hard for me to reach there, and I don't have any problem saying that publicly.”
Of course, he doesn't. Not when it's all about getting people excited about his team.
