Cowboys badly need changes, Aikman says
Former Dallas star QB says team’s dysfunction starts with Jones
FRISCO, Texas — Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman called Monday’s 28-14 loss to the Tennessee Titans as bad a loss as he’s seen by the Dallas Cowboys at this point in the season.
His exact words on the loss that dropped the Cowboys to 3-5 and came after a bye and following a major trade and a coaching change: “I can’t think of a loss that was this bad at this point of a year.”
But Aikman, who led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s, says the issues go far deeper than coach Jason Garrett, whom he believes is safe from being fired because owner Jerry Jones is comfortable with him.
Aikman says major changes in the franchise are needed if the Cowboys truly hope to turn things around and become legitimate Super Bowl contenders again for the first time since their last title in 1995.
“Go through the list (of head coaches) and this team, over a long period of time, has been what it’s been,” Aikman said Tuesday on 1310 The Ticket. “It hasn’t always mattered who the head coach has been. So to me, if you’re asking me, I’d say there has to be a complete overhaul of the entire organization.”
“I’ve heard Jerry say, ‘OK, look, we’re going to do it differently. I’m going to do it differently.’ But it’s the same. Nothing changes,” Aikman said.
49ERS: San Francisco is sticking with Nick Mullens as its starting quarterback after his spectacular debut performance.
Mullens said coach Kyle Shanahan told him Tuesday that he will remain the starter for the upcoming game against the New York Giants.
Mullens was sharp in his debut after spending his first year-plus in the NFL on the practice squad as an undrafted free agent out of Southern Mississippi.
Mullens completed 16 of 22 passes for 262 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a 151.9 passer rating in a 34-3 victory over the Oakland Raiders. That’s the highest since the merger for a player in his debut with at least 20 attempts.
GIANTS: Rookie quarterback Kyle Lauletta apologized Tuesday morning, a week after he was arrested for motor vehicle violations near his home in Weehawken, N.J.
“First things first, I want to apologize to the New York Giants organization, my teammates, the fans and my family,” Lauletta said.
According to Weehawken police accounts, Lauletta, the Giants’ fourth-round pick from Richmond, was driving his 2017 Jaguar on Tuesday morning, Oct. 30, when he was stopped for failing to obey a police officer’s order to continue driving straight.
The report says Lauletta almost hit a police officer while making an illegal turn. He was stopped by a second police officer and refused to produce a driver’s license or exit the car.
STEELERS: Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sat out practice on Tuesday to give his broken left index finger a rest but he is expected to play on Thursday night when Carolina visits Heinz Field.
Roethlisberger said the finger was “fine” after he threw the ball 47 times in last Sunday’s victory over Baltimore.
He did leave the game briefly in the third quarter after getting the wind knocked out of him, but he returned after missing just one snap.
The 36-year-old is on pace to top 5,000 yards passing for the first time in his career. He came close in 2014 when he tied Drew Brees for the league lead with 4,952. Roethlisberger said reaching the 5,000-yard plateau “is still a pretty big deal” but he is keeping his focus on the team.
The Steelers (5-2-1) have ripped off four straight wins to climb into first in the AFC North.
“There was no panic in this room early in the season,” Roethlisberger said. “That’s why we got a good chuckle out of (the media) panicking and the outside world panicking, but for us it was just a matter of playing the next week.”