Garrett beware: Jones preaches patience but also says Cowboys don't have time for him to learn on the job

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones tried his best to distance himself from the rumor surrounding Saints coach Sean Payton on his radio show on Tuesday.

Jones said he can't have any contact with Payton and that he knows nothing of Payton's business with the Saints or his contract situation.

Jones, however, was more convoluted when it came time to talk about the status of his own coach, Jason Garrett.

On one hand, Jones preached patience and even compared Garrett to Tom Landry and Bill Belichick, who struggled early in their careers before winning Super Bowl titles and becoming legends.

"You have to look at his short tenure and potential for the future," Jones said. "Yes I made a coaching change with coach who only been here two years (Chan Gailey). I regretted it. That was not the thing I should have done. It's one of the few things I would take back as far the coaching thing. Look at Belichick being fired in Cleveland and ends up at New England. The books are full of coaches who started slow and ended up doing an outstanding job. I don't have to remind you of Coach Landry's early years."

On the other hand, Jones said the Cowboys have talent better than their 3-5 record. He says they have quarterback they can win a Super Bowl with in Tony Romo. They have linebacker DeMarcus Ware and nose tackle Jay Ratliff in their prime.  The time is now for them to win and they can't waste on a coach learning on the job.

"We have talent," Jones said. "We don't have time to have a bad time, not in their careers.
We can't have a coach gaining experience. That's the challenge. We have to get to the ground running. We are not doing it right now."

Asked specifically how he will evaluate Garrett, Jones said the Cowboys need to a win game and get some positive momentum going. Jones said he is frustrated with the team's record but he hasn't given up up of a playoff run. He said they need to start winning, starting Sunday against the Eagles, a team that is also struggling at 3-5.

"We need to win a game," Jones said. "I looked for an uptick when Jason took over. I look for that now. The arrow going up."

Clarence Hill

Comments

[paul watson]

Lose to the hapless Eagles and its all cooked. Garrett needs to employ TWO TE sets i.e Hanna & Witten spread the defense out and throw several longish balls to Hanna who could be wide open as Witten will be double teamed. Felix Jones is weak and should not be starting. I would give both tanner & Dunbar a shot but they need about 30 touches between them.

[TheOne]

Garrett's..on the job training..should have been over three years ago. Still don't understand why he has that job.

[lenny64]

Tom Landry is an exception. Guys like Bill Belichick took a lot of what they learned as a first time head coach and applied it at their next stop. Sometimes it takes a firing to get a head coach to change some of his ways and make him a better coach.

And Jerry says he can't have a head coach gaining experience on the job...if thats the case why would you hire a first time head coach? Makes no sense.