Watkins: Are recent moves Jerry Jones' handiwork?

[Irving Cowboy]

Are recent moves Jerry Jones' handiwork?
August, 21, 2013
By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com

IRVING, Texas -- The Cowboys have made some interesting lineup changes in the last few days.

On Wednesday, the team worked starting right tackle Doug Free at right guard and moved right guard Mackenzy Bernadeau to left guard. Jermey Parnell moved from second-team right tackle to the first team.

In the third preseason game, fifth-round running back Joseph Randle played the entire second half over Phillip Tanner, and quarterback Alex Tanney played the second half over Nick Stephens. Demetress Bell played at right tackle in the second half of the Arizona game over Parnell.

Are the following changes coming from the general manager, Jerry Jones, or from the head coach, Jason Garrett?

Garrett was asked whether the front office decided to play Randle ahead of Tanner for the third preseason game.

"Collective decision," Garrett responded Monday. "We wanted to see Joseph Randle and we wanted to hand Joseph Randle the ball and see what he’s been doing. Phillip has done a really nice job for us both on offense and on (special) teams. We've seen him the last couple of years and we wanted to give the young guy a chance to play. Phillip always responds the right way to the stuff he’s been in."

Tanner said he's a "company guy" and isn't concerned about Randle getting more snaps than him in preseason games. In the big picture, the Cowboys will probably keep four running backs, but Tanner will become mainly a special-teams guy.

As for the quarterbacks, Garrett said that because Tanney was signed after the offseason workouts, the Cowboys wanted to see him get an entire half of action.

Jones said the Cowboys needed to play Bell after he missed three weeks of training camp practices. Garrett said Bell missed practices because he was overweight.

The moves Wednesday could be, as Garrett said, "collective," because the team is concerned that injured left guards Nate Livings and Ronald Leary might miss the regular-season opener. If the Cowboys release Livings, the team takes a $2.4 million salary-cap hit.

After getting rebuffed by Brandon Moore and reaching a dead end with Brian Waters, the Cowboys' quest for veteran interior O-line help has been halted. It seems the Cowboys are going to stick with this current group and will shuffle some personnel. Is Jones or Garrett making this decision ?

The GM has the right to decide who plays on the field during the preseason and in some cases the regular season. Garrett and Jones are believed to be on the same page regarding this; it's just interesting to note the moves and who could be directing them.
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Ummm... Hos?

 

[cmd34(work)]

Not to mention they were force feeding Gavin Escobar.

One day, someone who doesn't care about their NFL future is going to tell the world about the inner workings of this team.

 

[Jon88]

That Escobar pick was fucking ridiculous not even taking into account the offensive line.

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

Not to mention they were force feeding Gavin Escobar.

One day, someone who doesn't care about their NFL future is going to tell the world about the inner workings of this team.

I remember this past offseason, Switzer was talking about filming some movie or something with some kind of tangential reference to the Cowboys, and joked that Jerry would probably have to sign off on it because it's in the contract of everyone who leaves there not to talk about that kind of stuff.

Something like that. One of those things where at first you thought he was joking but then realized he really wasn't.

 

[UVAwahoos]

I remember this past offseason, Switzer was talking about filming some movie or something with some kind of tangential reference to the Cowboys, and joked that Jerry would probably have to sign off on it because it's in the contract of everyone who leaves there not to talk about that kind of stuff.

Something like that. One of those things where at first you thought he was joking but then realized he really wasn't.

a gag order on all present/ex-employees? Makes a lot more sense than hostilefatfag's theory that this is just a perfectly run franchise that has hit a 20 year rough patch by shear lack of luck.

Also, please change your sig. kthanx

 

[Sheik]

Does not surprise me. The gag order thing.

Easily explained away, I'm sure.

"Hey, Jerry don't want nobody knowing his secrets to building a great team."

-average zoner

 

[dbair1967]

I remember this past offseason, Switzer was talking about filming some movie or something with some kind of tangential reference to the Cowboys, and joked that Jerry would probably have to sign off on it because it's in the contract of everyone who leaves there not to talk about that kind of stuff.

Something like that. One of those things where at first you thought he was joking but then realized he really wasn't.

Jimmy and Parcells talk about it quite a bit don't they?

 

[ZeroClub]

I'm no fan of Jones or Garrett, but it would be stupid not to try to get Randle game experience now (and evaluate how good he is). The team had better know what they have in Randle. If/when Murray goes down, decisions have to made about how the snaps will be distributed.

Seems like Jones and Garrett would be on the same page on this. It is pretty much a no-brainer.

 

[UVAwahoos]

Jimmy and Parcells talk about it quite a bit don't they?

It's no coincidence that they really only say good things. This is def a league-wide practice though. Teams like Oakland and Cincy have had owners just as bad as Jerry and their facilities are absolute dumps. I've read some terrible things about the Oakland Coliseum in particular. A shadester like Tom Cable would make a small fortune on a tell-all book about a place like that.

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

Jimmy and Parcells talk about it quite a bit don't they?

Jimmy I'm sure didn't have the clause. He's probably a lot of the reason it's in there, if it really is.

And Parcells hasn't said anything about the inner workings, really.

Like UVA said, it would explain why we don't see these tell-all books or articles about some of the bad situations around the league, which actually would be pretty interesting to read.

 

[peplaw06]

I don't see how you can get everyone you fire to sign a gag order before they leave. What's the incentive for Rob Ryan to agree to a gag order when he's getting the boot? Even if it's a part of their original contract, once that person's contract is terminated, it wouldn't be enforceable.

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

I wondered about that, too, but couldn't that be in the contract when they get the job?

Granted, they could talk anyway and basically tell Jerry (or Al or whoever) "Go ahead and sue me." Which probably would never happen.

The guys like Ryan still young enough to be in the league I'm sure just don't want to piss off an owner like that. I'm sure that would make him look bad to prospective employers.

 

[peplaw06]

The guys like Ryan still young enough to be in the league I'm sure just don't want to piss off an owner like that. I'm sure that would make him look bad to prospective employers.

That's probably the thing stopping most of them... future job prospects. And some of them have too much integrity to expose all the secrets I'm sure.

 

[Everlastingxxx]

Yea, it’s kindof like Arthor 2 (underrated movie), you talk bad about Jerry and he will fuck up your world.

 

[UVAwahoos]

Some of these guys definitely do not seem to have much integrity. Lane Kiffin in particular is a giant piece of shit. There has to be something there, particularly given the amount of roster and coaching turnover that occurs annually.

In a just world, we'd know about the true Jerry from more than just Jimmy Johnson and a couple embarrassingly drunken youtube videos.