Jerry Jones wants some homers on the payroll.
The Cowboys owner defended his fiery appearance on the team’s flagship radio station Tuesday, in which he appeared to threaten the jobs of the hosts who questioned him about Dallas’ offseason following a 47-9 home loss to the Lions since he believes those 105.3 The Fan personalities should not be the ones to question him.
“I don’t know that I would go as far as (calling) the volume connotation as yelling,” Jones told The Athletic. “OK? But the facts are that if I’m going to be grilled by the tribunal, I don’t need it to be by the guys I’m paying. I can take it from fans and take it from other people. I take a lot of pride in how fair and how much I try to work with the media, we’re brothers and sisters. But I was a little frustrated there today.
“We got in there as of accounting for decisions made in the offseason. OK? They might as well gone back to decisions made in 2010. My point is, and that’s from my perspective, there’s no question, I’m sure that they would have liked to have grilled me like the fans are thinking, what are you going to do about that? I get it. I get all of that. And really will go along with it.”
Jones appears on the station every Tuesday and Friday, in addition to a pregame interview, per The Athletic, so there’s a comfort level with “Shan & RJ” personalities Shan Shariff, R.J. Choppy and Bobby Belt.
Some team channels provide softer landing spots than others when conducting interviews, although the questions asked Tuesday certainly were fair amid the Cowboys’ 3-3 start.
The 82-year-old Jones said the team would be “all in” this offseason but they focused on retaining quarterback Dak Prescott and receiver CeeDee Lamb instead of adding high-profile free agents.
Jones lashed out after being asked about the offseason strategy.
“This is not your job. Your job isn’t to let me go over all the reasons that I did something and I’m sorry that I did it. That’s not your job. I’ll get somebody else to ask these questions. I’m not kidding,” Jones said. “You’re not going to figure out what the team is doing right or wrong. If you are, or any five or 10 like you, you need to come to this (NFL) meeting I’m going to today with 32 teams here, you’re geniuses.
“You really think you’re gonna sit here with a microphone and tell me all of the things that I’ve done wrong without going over the rights? Listen, we both know we’re talking to a lot of great fans, a lot of great listeners. And I am very sorry for what happened out there Sunday. I’m sick about what happened Sunday.”
Jones seemingly took a shot at the hosts while explaining why he believes they should not have been the ones to question him.
Shannon Sharpe ripped Jones for his actions, saying he attempted to “prey on the weak.”
“The wrong ones were doing the questioning,” Jones told The Athletic of his outburst. “Now, if those had been real fans sitting there or if there had been people that knew what they were talking about, football people, I might have had a different answer.”
While Jones can be upset about the questioning, the reality is his Cowboys can’t run from their middling start which has raised questions about this team’s ceiling after winning the NFC East last year.
Dallas’ offense is not functioning at the same level as last season and the defense has been gashed in several high-profile matchups.
Jones has already shot down the idea of firing coach Mike McCarthy, but Dallas will have to make changes fast with its first five games out of the bye coming against playoff contenders.
The Cowboys visit the 49ers and Falcons before welcoming the Texans and Eagles and then hitting the road again to face the NFC East-leading Commanders.