Stephen Jones speaks out after Cowboys’ season opener loss: What he really thinks
The Dallas Cowboys COO broke down their close, season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, including his thoughts on CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott.
The Dallas Cowboys opened the 2025 season with a 24-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
On Monday, team COO/co-owner Stephen Jones echoed the sentiments of head coach Brian Schottenheimer, that the team does not believe in “moral victories”.
The two highest-graded players in Cowboys-Eagles:
— PFF (@PFF) September 5, 2025
Dak Prescott and Jalen Hurts 🚀 pic.twitter.com/RVwvrJIFfP
No excuses: Stephen Jones on what went wrong against the Eagles
Jones did not mince words. He knows they had a shot to actually beat last year’s Super Bowl winners and make a statement, and he knows they blew it.
“I thought we gave ourselves opportunities to win the game, but when we had an opportunity to get it done there in the fourth quarter, we didn’t make it happen,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. “We’ve got to be better than that. I know Schotty feels that way, I know Dak [Prescott] feels that way, I know our whole team and staff feel that way.”
He praised the accountability shown by star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who worked on improving his game immediately after dropping key passes against Philly.
The #Cowboys arrived back in Dallas at 5:00 am on Friday. Just a few hours later, CeeDee Lamb was the lone player on the practice field working on the jugs machine.
— Ernie The Cowboys Fan (@E_TheCowboysFan) September 7, 2025
Leadership and accountability. This team will make a deep run this postseason. pic.twitter.com/UQ7iqyExAh
“I expect nothing less from CeeDee,” Jones said. “I know one thing. He’s going to make a whole lot more plays to win us games than he doesn’t. I have 100% confidence in what he stands for, doesn’t surprise me a bit that he was back on his day off on a jugs machine. He’s driven to be great, and that’s why we love to have CeeDee on our football team.”
#DallasCowboys EVP Stephen Jones on CeeDee Lamb taking accountability for his drops against the Eagles.
— 105.3 The FAN (@1053thefan) September 8, 2025
"I expect nothing less from CeeDee. He's a class act. ... He busts his ass. ... He's driven to be great."
Listen to the interview with @OThankKevin and @inthemageors⤵️ pic.twitter.com/n4wdR2thYr
Jones also commented on the ejection of Eagles’ Jalen Carter, saying such behavior is unacceptable in the NFL. Carter spit directly on quarterback Dak Prescott just six seconds into the game, getting an Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty and an ejection from the game.
“I don’t think anybody would defend that. I don’t think [Carter] did either,” Jones said. “It’s an emotional game, and sometimes you do things that you’d like to have back. I’m sure he’d like to have that back. That’s just not something we want in our game.”
He also provided updates on the health and performance of players like Trevon Diggs and Tyler Guyton, happily reporting that the team left Philadelphia unscathed. With lessons learned from Thursday’s game, Jones and the Cowboys are focused on moving forward as they prepare to face the New York Giants on Sunday.
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