Jerry Jones on Managing Garrett and the Cowboys: 'Like Two Fists of Jell-O'
FRISCO - Jerry Jones has two favorite food-related analogies - both of them colorful, unique and funny - to explain the challenges in managing the affairs of the Dallas Cowboys. One is about "peas." The other is today's main course: "Jell-O."
"Running one of these football teams, when you run it the way I do, and with the help that I have, it’s like holding two handfuls of Jell-O,”' Jones said on Tuesday, closing a wide-ranging and insightful visit on 105.3 The Fan. "And about the time you think you've got it corralled over on one part of your hands, it's coming out the fingers on the other.”
Jerry also added that he's not looking for any sympathy for struggling to manage the tasks at hand, saying, "I'm the luckiest guy on the planet.''
Right now, the 6-5 Cowboys could use a little luck — and according to Jones, they could use better coaching from Jason Garrett and staff, too. He did not back down from his harsh analysis of his staff from Sunday after the loss at New England, noting here, "When you're the general manager as I am, the coaches are out there at my ultimate decision."
Jones said he did not consider firing Garrett after the loss, confirmed our report that the fact that the Cowboys brass didn't conduct a Monday meeting between ownership and staff is simply due to this condensed Thanksgiving Week (Dallas hosts the Bills on Thursday) and dismissed my theory that some of his ire is due to the loopy story that has Garrett plotting an escape from Dallas to the New York Giants.
He also flexed his GM muscle while at the same time taking "the-buck-stops-here'' responsibility for what's gone wrong in Dallas, despite the fact that the club is in first place in the NFC East.
"At the end of the day, the buck stops with me," he said. "I am highly critical and continually evaluating the performance of everybody involved."
Over the course of Jerry's 30 seasons in Dallas, he's often explained that running a team is "like trying to balance peas on a plate.'' He's also often used the "Jell-O" analogy. This time, he utilized the latter, though with all that's going on here at The Star, maybe Jones is trying to both balance those peas and grasp that Jell-O, all at the same time.
