Jerry Jones on the Cowboys' ongoing running woes in 2024

FRISCO, Texas – Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones has come under intense scrutiny over Dallas' decision not to pursue current Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry in the offseason. After Henry ran for 169 yards on 15 carries and scored two touchdowns against Tampa on Monday night, Jones again faced questions about the decision on his weekly radio show with 105.3 The Fan.

“In my opinion, we're not playing very good football at all right now and it's not about whether we have Derrick Henry or not,” Jones said. “Derrick Henry is having a career year. I don’t know if he would have a career year in our situation.”

Henry leads the NFL in carries (134) and rushing yards (873) and has the most rushing touchdowns (8) in seven games. The Cowboys as a team have 133 carries for 463 yards and two touchdowns this season, with Rico Dowdle leading the team with 59 carries. Obviously, the Ravens and Cowboys' plans differ offensively, another reason why Jones didn't move on him in free agency.

“If (Henry) hadn't had as many runs as our running backs, he certainly wouldn't have had the impact that he did…,” Jones said. “He’s a really good addition to the type of offense they run. We don’t run that kind of offense at all.”

Perhaps the biggest reason Jones decided not to sign Henry was the financial aspect of the deal, especially given the plans the Cowboys had for the contracts of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb.

“Derrick Henry wasn't a good fit primarily because he was managing the cap in terms of the players we would be signing weeks later,” Jones said. “Or the anticipation of the players we would sign in the future.”

The Cowboys can't do anything with Henry now. So how do Jones and the front office go about finding a running back who fits their mold?

“Has anyone thought about the fact that when you invest a lot of money in a running back, it's better to run the ball?” Jones said.

Obviously, the numbers have shown that the Cowboys don't plan on relying on their running game at times this season. Mike McCarthy mentioned at the start of the bye that he wanted to get Rico Dowdle more touches after the best day of his career a few weeks ago in Pittsburgh, but the issue boils down to whether the play calls and blocking schemes upfront get the running game going bring or not for success.

“The type of thing we should all focus on is making bad plays or bad concepts,” Jones said. “The facts are that there is some of that, but there is also some execution.”

Part of the lack of production from the offensive line, particularly rookies Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe, and the Cowboys as a team can be attributed to the heavy influx of young, inexperienced players that Jones knows will take time to arrive .

“I like our young talent, but with young talent comes a few more mistakes than when you're dealing with an experienced player,” Jones said. “However, you have to have young talent.”

The Cowboys will try to find their rhythm on the ground Sunday night against San Francisco, a defense that has given up 112.9 yards on the ground per game this season.