When Cowboys owner Jerry Jones returned to the 105.3 The Fan airwaves in Dallas Tuesday morning, a week after his explosive interview on “Shan & RJ” in which he threatened to have the hosts fired, Jones asked how one of the hosts, R.J. Choppy, was doing.
“That stings, Jerry, R.J.’s the only one not here today,” cohost Shan Shariff said.
“Did he want to avoid the confrontation?” Jones jokingly replied.
That’s as uncomfortable as Tuesday’s reunion got as Jones sought to put the events of last week behind him, saying he was “surprised” at how much attention the radio spot received, adding that he feels the weekly interviews are “like pillow talk” in that he reveals some inside information fans don’t get elsewhere.
Shariff, also looking to move on from the controversial interview, admitted that Jones has “provided us radio gold” for the last 15 years.
“Here’s the thing, the fact that we’ve been doing it for 15 years shows that someplace in between there, we got comfortable in our skin doing these type of things,” Jones said. “I’m tickled to death that we have enough interest in this as we do.”
Jones, 82, took umbrage with a question about not upgrading the roster during the offseason and fans feeling the team hadn’t done enough to improve, two days after the Cowboys were blown out by the Lions at home, 47-9.
“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 on last week’s show “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.”
On Tuesday, Jones preemptively addressed Derrick Henry, the Ravens free-agent signing who had another huge game Monday night, ripping off an 81-yard run en route to a 15-carry, 169-yard performance that included a 13-yard receiving touchdown.
Henry, 30, leads the NFL in yards rushing (873) and is tied for the lead in rushing touchdowns (eight) through seven games.
“In my mind, we’re not playing very good football right now, and it’s beyond whether we have Derrick Henry or not. He’s having a career year. I don’t know if he’d be having a career year in our situation,” Jones said. “He’s a real good complement to the type of offense they run. We don’t run that type of offense at all.”
Jones added that Henry didn’t fit because of “managing the [salary] cap” and in anticipation of the mega contracts they eventually handed to Dak Prescott (four years, $240 million) and CeeDee Lamb (four years, $136 million).
Henry signed a two-year, $16 million contract with Baltimore including $9 million guaranteed. Henry’s former team, the Titans, signed Tony Pollard away from Dallas on a three-year, $21.75 million contract with $10.5 million guaranteed. The Cowboys brought Ezekiel Elliott back on a one-year, $2 million contract after he spent a year with the Patriots.
The Cowboys (3-3), who are coming off their bye week, visit the 49ers (3-4) on “Sunday Night Football” in Week 8.
