Jerry Jones on late-game Cowboys meltdown in loss to Ravens: ‘There is no explanation that you’re satisfied with’

“There is no explanation you’re satisfied with, Jones said. “None. Let’s be sure that we all understand that. They don’t have one that they’re satisfied with.

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“We made mistakes during that time. There’s no question about it. So there is no explanation. But there’s an evaluation of how not to make the same mistakes again, which is what you should be doing.”

Jones called for accountability, but calm

This was the theme of Jones’ radio hit. He didn’t gloss over the late-game mistakes that have sparked wave of criticism in Dallas of Schottenheimer, who’s in his second year as the Cowboys’ head coach.

But Jones didn’t join the fanbase with a pitchfork. He instead, repeatedly pointed to the Cowboys’ mistakes on Sunday as an opportunity for Schottenheimer and his staff to learn and get better with 14 games remaining in the regular season.

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He took this tack with the decision for Brandon Aubrey to send the ensuing kickoff through the end zone for a touchback rather than putting the ball in play to force a return. The touchback gave Baltimore the ball at the Dallas 35-yard line without burning any game clock.

“You can do a better job of what we were doing at that time,” Jones said. … “That decision of how to do that kickoff. Trust me, that thing and the nuances on the sideline, the nuances and the input of everyone’s decision there. That’s being gone over with a fine-tooth comb.”

Then there was the defensive coverage that allowed Lamar Jackson to find Zay Flowers on a 27-yard gain and call a timeout with one second remaining on the game clock. This play set up Ravens kicker Tyler Loop for his game-winning 56-yard field goal.

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“We obviously didn’t plan on that layer of receivers — that layer, the layer that got them in that good of position — we didn’t plan on that layer of receivers catching the ball,” Jones said.

Jones won’t ask Schottenheimer to relinquish play-calling

It wasn’t just one of these mistakes, but the combination of them all that allowed the Ravens to win the game in regulation. And he prompted a question to Jones. Does Schottenheimer have too much on his plate and should he delegate his offensive play-calling duties to better focus on game management?

Jones said that that decision will be left to Schottenheimer.

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“I’ve always had the coach self-correct or self-adjust,” Jones said. “Your coach is the first one — the head coach — is the first one to think adjusting if he’s overloaded.”

So this is where Jones is with Schottenheimer. He’s calling for accountability while maintaining a line that Schottenheimer and his staff will learn and improve from their mistakes.

“We will be better from this experience that we had with Baltimore and what happened to us at the end of the game,” Jones said. “We will be better because of it.”

Don’t expect Jones to have a short leash with Schottenheimer

This is a line that Jones frequently takes, often to the chagrin of Cowboys fans. He’s historically been slower to move on from a head coach than the fan base would like.

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After three weeks, he’s certainly not ready to entertain firing Schottenheimer.

Jones has only fired a coach midseason one time in his 38 years as Cowboys owner, and he’s said since that decision to fire Wade Phillips in 2010 that he regretted it. He’s going to give Schottenheimer time to adjust.

But correctly or not, this is a Cowboys team that entered the season with Super Bowl hopes. A fan base that bought into those hopes isn’t going to have the same sort of patience with Schottenheimer if things don’t turn around quickly.