When a team is underperforming like the Cowboys have through the first eight weeks, second-guessing should be expected.
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones has his decisions questioned publicly probably more than any other owner or GM in the NFL. But Cowboys fans probably wonder who is questioning Jones to his face. Unlike other general managers, Jones answers to himself.
Jones doesn't want the Cowboys fan base to think that he's not trying because that could cause them to become one of his worst fears — disinterested.
On Friday, Jones said that he is always looking for ways to improve the team.
"Always," Jones said on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM]. "And we're in a juncture, we just past the trading deadline. Spent a lot of time looking to see if there was a way to improve things with the trading deadline. Of course, when you make changes like that in personnel, that can impact what we do next year. And we also have limitations on what you can do. But I'm always looking for ways to have improvement, and should be."
The fans at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday showed their displeasure for Jones early in the second quarter. With the Cowboys trailing the New York Giants 23-0, Jones was booed several times when he appeared on the big screen monitor above the field.
But like the 70-year-old owner has said all week, that just comes with the territory.
"As to being criticized, I'm not going to say that I'm used to it, but there have been criticisms since the day that I got involved with the Cowboys," Jones said. "Serious criticism, but that's part of the interest. That's part of having people involved. What you don't want is apathy. And we're not going to have apathy. I promise you that. I'll stir something up before we have apathy. I say that tongue-in-cheek.
"But the bottom line is that I understand the criticism. Should get it. Should get it. I've had people tell me from the time I got here that, 'You need buffers. You need to create some buffers there. Get somebody else to be the general manager. Then you can fire them if things aren't going good.' All those kinds of things. That's not the way I operate. Not that that's a bad way to operate, but I just don't operate that way. Consequently, I know that when we don't win I'm going to get criticism."
