With a few days to sit on things after his Cowboys’ 23–17 wild-card round loss to the 49ers, Jerry Jones is clearly not happy with how things shook out. He does, however, remain confident in the team’s future with Dak Prescott at quarterback.
During an appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas Friday, Jones confirmed that he believes in Prescott’s ability to win a Super Bowl, and that the team has the pieces around him to do so.
“Yes I do, I sure do,” Jones said. “I start right there with a big circle and a big plus. Future: Dak Prescott.
”The list starts with that he has shown every time he's ever gotten in a position, he's shown that he's a winner in football... It's hard to pinpoint the skill that makes it happen. But Dak Prescott has the skill to make it happen. We've got skill players—[Ezekiel] Elliott has the skills to make it happen. We've got the offensive line talent to make it happen. We’ve just got to get it right and get it going in the right direction.”
Prescott has been one of the most prolific regular season quarterbacks in the NFL when healthy over the last three years. His numbers take a slight dip in the postseason, but the biggest concern is his 1–3 record in playoff games with the Cowboys.
One of the skill players that is a concern for Jones is a top Prescott target: wide receiver Amari Cooper, who had 68 receptions for 865 yards and eight touchdowns in 2021. It was his lowest reception and yardage output since the 2017 season.
Cooper is set to make $20 million per year over the next three seasons, per Spotrac.
“I don't have any comment on Cooper’s contract. I thought that the way we were playing early when we did make something happen, I thought Cooper had a big part of that. And I’m not being trite. But how he fits in, he should take half the field with him when he runs a route. Half, it’s an exaggeration of course, but a whole bunch of that defense ought to have to honor Cooper. He ought to be able to catch it in the middle of when they’re going with him. Others do. You throw to people that are covered all the time in the NFL, you have to. Most people don't have the numbers of receivers that we have.”
With last weekend's loss, the Cowboys’ Super Bowl drought runs to 26 years.
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