Jones wants Dallas to make use of Prescott’s legs, too
League arranges Saturday workout for Kaepernick
FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is as disappointed in the confounding 28-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings as anyone.
But don’t misconstrue his lack of anger for acceptance. It’s just par for the course, he said.
“I don’t know if I have too many weeks regarding the Cowboys that I’m not disturbed,” Jones said Tuesday on his radio show on 105.3 FM The Fan.
To that end, Jones said he was not deeply concerned over the play-calling late in the fourth quarter against the Vikings. That’s when the Cowboys ran RB Ezekiel Elliott on second-and-2 and third-and-3 from the 11 rather than lean on the arm of quarterback Dak Prescott.
Elliott, who had 47 yards on 20 carries, was stopped for no gain and a loss of three on the consecutive plays.
Prescott, who brought the Cowboys back from 14-0 deficit and kept the team in the game with 397 yards passing and three TDs, gave the ball to Elliott on a zone read and run-pass option before throwing incomplete to Elliott on fourth down.
“I want us to be able to get it in there,” Jones said. “How many times have we seen Dak run it in for the score? I like that we had a form of run-pass option on the goal line. I thought that was the ticket.”
Jones intimated the Cowboys should have used Prescott more as a runner with the Vikings so focused on stopping Elliott.
“We can make some adjustments in our run game and give us some better results,” Jones said. “I see us utilizing what we’re developing and that’s the ability to use our quarterback in the run-pass option game. I think we can make the run game more effective.”
In his fourth year, Prescott is No. 1 in the NFL in quarterback rating, second in passing yards and tied for third in passing touchdowns while leading the league’s second-ranked offense. It was all on display against the Vikings.
“Dak really showed us if they want to stop the run and dare Dak to beat them with his arm, he can do it,” Jones said.
Yet it was the Cowboys who stopped
Prescott from beating the Vikings with curious play calls that took the ball out his hands.
Jones also shared his thoughts on Tavon Austin’s decision to call a fair catch on the punt with 24 seconds remaining. The nearest Vikings defender was almost 20 yards away and there appeared to a be a lane up the left sideline. Austin says he was told to fair catch the ball.
KAEPERNICK WORKOUT: The NFL has arranged for QB Colin Kaepernick, a free agent, to work out for NFL teams at the Atlanta Falcons’ facility in Flowery Branch on Saturday. A memo about the workout went out to all 32 teams Tuesday.
Kaepernick, who guided the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl after the 2012 season, has not played in the NFL since opting out of his contract March 3, 2017.
Kaepernick started a league-wide movement to kneel during the national anthem to protest social and racial injustices and police brutality.
All 32 teams have been invited to the private workout which will include an interview, measurements and other quarterback drills. The workout will be recorded and provided to all league teams.
It’s not known how many teams will attend the workout, which will be closed to the public and the media.
DEATH: Zeke Bratkowski, the quarterback who backed up Bart Starr during Green Bay’s 1960s dynasty, has died at his Florida home. He was 88.
TIME CHANGES: The NFL has flexed Green Bay’s trip to San Francisco to prime time Nov. 24 along with announcing kickoff times for a handful of Week 16 games.
With Tuesday’s announcement, the Packers (8-2) and 49ers (8-1) replace Seattle at Philadelphia, which now will kick off at 11 a.m. MT on Nov. 24. Carolina at New Orleans moves from FOX to CBS, while Miami at Cleveland switches from CBS to Fox with kickoff times unchanged.
Also, the NFL had left the dates for some games for Week 16 undetermined. Now Houston will play Tampa Bay on Dec. 21 at 11 a.m. MT on NFL Network followed by Buffalo at New England at 2:30 p.m., and the tripleheader will be capped by the Los Angeles Rams visiting San Francisco at 6:15 p.m. On Dec. 22, Detroit now is scheduled to visit Denver with Oakland’s game at the Chargers both set for 2:05 p.m. kickoffs.