Cowboys will retain Garrett as head coach
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said coach Jason Garrett will return for an eighth full season after Dallas missed the playoffs in a year marred by the sixgame suspension of star running back Ezekiel Elliott.
Jones said on his radio show Tuesday that Garrett’s job “is not an issue here at all” while suggesting that there could be changes to the coaching staff with several contracts expiring. Garrett has two years left on a five-year deal signed after Dallas won the NFC East in 2014.
The Cowboys (8-7), who finish the season Sunday at division champion Philadelphia, lost their first three games without Elliott before winning three straight to stay in the race. Dallas lost a playoff elimination game to Seattle last weekend in the return of last year’s NFL rushing leader.
In other coaching news:
❚ Chicago Bears coach John Fox insists he is not worrying about his future.
With a 14-33 record in three years, Fox might be coaching his final game for the Bears when they finish the season at NFC North champion Minnesota on Sunday.
Fox said he has “never had trouble getting employment in this league” and is “not going to start worrying about it now.”
❚ Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said a report that he and the franchise have agreed to part ways after this season is untrue, labeling it “fake news.”
An article in Pro Football Weekly cited “multiple sources” as saying the split would come next week at the end of Arians’ fifth season as the team’s head coach.
But the 65-year-old Arians said that no decision has been made.
Harrison signs with Pats: Former Steelers star James Harrison signed a one-year deal with the New England Patriots three days after his departure from Pittsburgh.
The AFC North champion Steelers released the 39-year-old five-time Pro Bowl linebacker and 2008 NFL defensive player of the year on Saturday to make room for right tackle Marcus Gilbert, who is returning from a suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy.
Cousins to start finale: Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden said quarterback Kirk Cousins would start Sunday’s season finale at the New York Giants despite the potential of injury in a game with no postseason ramifications.
“There’s no thought to that at all,” Gruden said on a conference call two days after the Redskins’ 27-11 win over the Denver Broncos.
“Kirk wants to finish out the season. Got to get us back to 8-8. I think finishing on a three-game winning streak is important to a lot of people here.”