Friday’s NFL: Terrell Owens rips Cowboys coach Jason Garrett
Count Terrell Owens among those who feel the Dallas Cowboys should part ways with coach Jason Garrett.
Owens ripped Garrett in a recent interview on 105.3 The Fan, saying it “really doesn’t make sense” as to why Garrett remains employed going into his eighth full season as head coach.
“(The Cowboys are) not really expanding or progressing even as a team under his coaching tenure there,” said Owens, the Hall of Fame receiver who spent three seasons with the team (2006-08).
“At the end of the day, how can you keep allowing the players to be the scapegoat for what’s not happening, especially when you have a head coach that’s supposed to be offensive-minded?” Owens said. “They’re supposed to direct and lead the team to where it hasn’t gotten in a number of years, and they’ve pretty much been in a standstill under coach Jason Garrett.
“It all boils down to players being the scapegoat for his inability to lead the team as he should. For me, it’s mind-boggling. I don’t understand. And I think Jerry — again, he’s the owner at the end of the day, he has to feel good with himself about the decisions — but I just don’t understand why this guy (Garrett) still has a job.”
As Owens alluded to, owner Jerry Jones has stood by Garrett in recent months. Jones vouched for Garrett last season when the Cowboys went through the worst offensive stretch in team history, and again in the days following a season in which the Cowboys missed the playoffs for the fifth time in seven full seasons under Garrett.
“I feel good about our head coach,” Jones said at the end of last season.
Then, at the Senior Bowl, Jones addressed Garrett’s status.
“It’s fair for you to ask,” Jones said, “but he’s not on my hot seat.”
Instead, Jones is hoping Garrett rebounds in 2018 and wins coach of the year honors again as he did in 2016.
Garrett has two years and $12 million left on a five-year contract extension he signed after the 2014 season. He is 68-55 since becoming the Cowboys’ head coach midway through the 2010 season, and is the second-longest-tenured coach in franchise history behind Hall of Famer Tom Landry.
Gregory wants back in
Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory is seeking reinstatement to the NFL after missing the 2017 season over multiple violations of the league’s substance-abuse policy, a person with direct knowledge of the application said.
Gregory’s application should be received by the league office within days in hopes that he will be reinstated in time for training camp in late July, according to the person who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of privacy stipulations in the drug policy.
The NFL’s policy says those involved in the process will work to help commissioner Roger Goodell rule within 60 days of receiving the application. The league declined to comment.
Gregory, 25, last played in the 2016 regular-season finale, when the former Nebraska standout had his first career sack at the end of his second season.
He was suspended before Dallas’ playoff loss, his third suspension of the season.
Gregory slid to the Cowboys at the end of the second round in 2015 because of off-field concerns that included a positive test for marijuana at the NFL combine.
The Cowboys have backed Gregory’s attempt to return to the field, with several teammates writing letters of recommendation to the NFL as part of the application process. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones, whose recent second-round gambles in the draft haven’t paid off, has praised Gregory’s character repeatedly during the pass rusher’s absence.
“I’m very aware of how hard he’s working to get back in the league and get back on the field,” Jones said last week. “It’s concerning that he needs to be in a team environment and needs to be a part of the regime of preparing to actually compete and so all of that will be a challenge for him, but very do-able.”
Taylor dealt
The Cardinals are finalizing a trade that would bring cornerback Jamar Taylor from the Browns, two people with knowledge of the situation said Friday.
The people, who sought anonymity because the trade had not been officially announced, said the deal was expected to be completed Friday.
The trade would help fill a significant need for the Cardinals — a cornerback to play opposite Patrick Peterson. The Browns would receive a sixth-round draft pick.
The impending deal was first reported by NFL.com’s Ian Rappaport.
Taylor, 27, played the last two seasons with the Browns, with three interceptions and 23 passes defensed in 31 games.