Cowboys Not Signing Kicker
It appears Brett Maher‘s job is still safe, for now. This morning we heard word that Dallas was working out three kickers, including former Chargers and Redskin kicker Nick Rose. But despite hosting the specialists the Cowboys won’t be signing any of them at this time, a source told veteran Dallas beat writer Clarence Hill Jr. (Twitter link).
The Cowboys lost to the Bills in humiliating fashion on Thanksgiving, and Maher missed two crucial kicks in that game. He’s been struggling all year, and has converted only 67.9 percent of his attempts on the season. Maher finished his college career at Nebraska all the way back in 2013, but didn’t make his regular season NFL debut until last year.
He was pretty solid as a rookie after beating out veteran Dan Bailey in training camp, but the Cowboys might be regretting their decision right about now. While Maher seems to have at least one more week left on his leash, he might not have much longer. There’s a lot of tension in the building right now, and another crucial miss likely won’t be tolerated.
Connor Williams Suffers ACL Tear
DEC. 1: The Cowboys will place Williams on IR and will sign free agent OL Caleb Benenoch, as Todd Archer of ESPN.com writes.
NOV. 29: The Cowboys will need a new left guard for the rest of this season. The injury Connor Williams suffered during Dallas’ Thanksgiving game is a torn ACL, according to ESPN.com’s Todd Archer. Jason Garrett subsequently confirmed the injury.
A 2018 second-round pick, Williams serves as the lone rookie-contract blocker on Dallas’ veteran-laden offensive line. He has started 11 games opposite right guard Zack Martin this season, grading as Pro Football Focus’ No. 37 overall guard.
Dallas subbed in Xavier Su’a-Filo after Williams’ injury. Although the veteran had his hands full with Bills first-rounder Ed Oliver on Thursday, Su’a-Filo has 50 games’ worth of starting experience. The former Texans second-round pick signed with the Cowboys in 2018 and started eight games last season and one this year. Su’a-Filo becomes the likely rest-of-season starter. Rookie Connor McGovern is not expected to play this season after being placed on IR in early September, Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News tweets.
The Cowboys refused to deal their 2018 second-round pick to the Seahawks for Earl Thomas, who likely wanted that pick and then some. The No. 50 overall selection became Williams. He is certainly the lowest-profile Cowboys O-line starter, given that the unit houses three of this decade’s top blockers, but has started 21 games in his career.
Cowboys To Try Out Kickers
We heard just two days ago that the Cowboys would not be moving on from sophomore kicker Brett Maher, but the team is at least putting Maher on notice. As Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets, Dallas is bringing in three kickers for a workout today.
The Cowboys suffered an ugly loss to the Bills on Thanksgiving, and while there was plenty of blame to go around, Maher missed two field goals, which triggered speculation that Dallas could look for a replacement. Indeed, Maher has struggled to a 67.9% success rate on field goal attempts in 2019, which puts him among the league’s most inaccurate kickers.
That mark is well below the 80.6% success rate he posted in his rookie campaign in 2018, and while he is perfect on PATS this year, his accuracy on medium- to long-range kicks leaves much to be desired. Maher has connected on just five of 12 attempts from 40 yards or more.
Per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, the Cowboys are working out Austin MacGinnis, Nick Rose, and Tristan Vizcaino (Twitter link). Of those three, only Rose has any regular season NFL experience.
It’s unclear if the Cowboys would consider cutting Maher if they are impressed by one of the tryout players, but they are at least trying to spur Maher into a quick turnaround.
Latest On Cowboys’ Pending FAs, Jason Garrett
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the Cowboys have made no progress on extensions for pending free agents Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper, or Byron Jones, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes. La Canfora had a similar report towards the end of October, and nothing has changed since then.
Dallas, obviously, is not going to let Prescott get away, and even if the two sides cannot work out a long-term pact prior to the deadline for using the franchise tag, the Cowboys would tag their signal-caller to buy themselves some more time. That would mean that the Cowboys could not tag Cooper, and La Canfora’s sources say the odds of the team retaining Cooper without the tag are slim. Plus, given that we are now close to the end of the season, Cooper is not inclined to forego his shot at the open market by restarting extension negotiations.
La Canfora adds that there has been no communication between the Cowboys and Jones, and no talks are expected before the end of the season. With Jones, like Cooper, poised for a big payday, it seems increasingly likely that the team will lose both players.
With respect to Jason Garrett, we have already heard that the Cowboys will not be firing their head coach before the end of the season, but we also heard that Garrett may need to capture the Lombardi Trophy in order to remain in Dallas beyond 2019, and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network confirms earlier rumors that the Cowboys will have interest in Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley if they elect to move on from Garrett (video link). Owner Jerry Jones and his family already have a relationship with Riley stemming from Riley’s recruitment of Jones’ grandson, John Stephen Jones, who ultimately elected to play his collegiate ball at Arkansas.
Riley has been a hot name in NFL coaching rumors in the past, and if he elects to jump to the professional ranks, Rapoport suggests the Cowboys could be appealing to him.
Amari Cooper Avoids Serious Injury
Amari Cooper left the Cowboys‘ Thanksgiving Day game because of a knee injury, but it appears the wide receiver avoided a significant setback. An MRI Cooper underwent Friday revealed no structural damage in the knee, Todd Archer of ESPN.com notes. The Cowboys do not have a 10-day break, set for a Thursday-night game in Week 14 in Chicago, but Cooper looks to have avoided a multi-game injury. That will obviously be pivotal to a 6-6 team vying for the NFC East title with the 5-6 Eagles.
Cowboys Notes: Beasley, Garrett, Maher
Former Cowboys receiver Cole Beasley had a bumpy tenure with the team. Beasley was a fan favorite in Dallas from 2012-2018, but became frustrated with the team when his role did not expand to the degree he thought it should. After signing with the Bills this offseason, Beasley got to exert his revenge in Buffalo’s 26-15 victory in Dallas on Thursday.
In the postgame celebration of Buffalo’s Thanksgiving day victory, Beasley told reporters that he felt “disrespected” in Dallas and felt that they disrespected him again in his return, according to Angel Franco of The Dallas Morning News. Beasley caught six passes for 110 receiving yards and a touchdown against his former team.
Here’s some more Cowboys notes:
- Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones ripped his coaching staff after last week’s loss to the Patriots. After an even more disappointing loss to Buffalo on Thursday, all eyes were on the maverick owner to see if he would once again criticize his coaching staff. While Jones was not full of praise, he tried to calm the flames around the team by saying he will not make any coaching moves during the season, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. This does not remove the pressure on head coach Jason Garrett to make a deep playoff run, but should make it easier to focus on the upcoming schedule.
- Cowboys placekicker Brett Maher is in the midst of a massive sophomore slump. After an impressive rookie season that included 6 makes on 7 attempts from at least 50 yards, the Nebraska product has made just 67.9% of his field goal attempts in 2019. While special teams has been a huge problem for the Cowboys, they will not be making a change at kicker, according to Jon Machota of The Athletic. Maher has yet to miss an extra point on the season and remains 14 of 16 inside 40 yards, but will surely hope to improve his accuracy from deeper range during the rest of the season.
Cowboys Won’t Fire Jason Garrett During Season
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and EVP Stephen Jones plan to allow Jason Garrett to finish the season as the team’s head coach, no matter what happens from here on out, a high-ranking source familiar with their thinking tells ESPN.com’s Ed Werder (on Twitter). This jibes with comments made by the elder Jones earlier this week regarding Garrett’s job security between now and Week 17. 
Beyond that, there’s little guaranteed for Garrett. The Cowboys have yet to reach the promised land on the coach’s watch and Jones isn’t the patient type.
“Disappointed is not the word,” Jones said after the team’s 13-9 loss to the Patriots. “There’s no question that we were given an opportunity, there were things we could have taken advantage of.”
The Cowboys entered Thursday’s game against the Bills with a 6-5 record, good for first in the NFC East, and a 64% chance to edge out the Eagles for the divisional crown. If they make the playoffs, they’ll vie for their first Super Bowl win since the 1995 season.
Jason Garrett Must Win Super Bowl To Keep Job
Sources close to the Cowboys say head coach Jason Garrett must win the Super Bowl this season to retain his job, according to Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report. Freeman notes that Garrett has survived the hot seat many times before, but claims in this instance, “the rumors feel different.”
Just this morning, Dallas owner Jerry Jones intimated the same sentiment to Good Morning Football, but 
given Jones’ maverick history, reading into any one quote can be misleading. However, Freeman’s report confirms Garrett faces an ultimatum to reach a level he has never reached in his tenure as head coach.
Garrett holds a 83-64 overall record in his ten years as head coach in Dallas, but his 2-3 playoff record, which includes zero Super Bowl appearances remains the largest indictment on his record. His more recent refusal to integrate statistical analysis into his decision making has garnered large outside criticism, especially after he decided to kick a field goal during the Cowboys 13-9 loss to the Patriots on Sunday.
Freeman reports that executives around the league believe Jones has begun to focus on two candidates to eventually replace Garrett: former Utah, Florida, and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Both candidates come with certain levels of risk. Meyer has never coached at the professional level and left Ohio State amidst off-field controversy. McDaniels’ was last the Broncos head coach, but was fired after a generally unsuccessful tenure. Of course, Garrett does appear to have a path to retaining his position: reaching the league’s pinnacle.
Coaching Notes: Belichick, Packers, Garrett
Ben Volin of The Boston Globe dives into the tape of the Patriots 13-9 victory over the Cowboys on Sunday to explore the ways New England shutdown one of the most prolific offenses in football. Pats head coach Bill Belichick has long been one of the best defensive minds in football and Dallas tight end Jason Witten explained how Sunday’s scheme caused problems,“Even though it’s cover 0, it’s really not. When you think cover 0, you think all-out pressure and man-to-man [coverage]. But they’re dropping out to play whole help, so they have help coming inside. As receivers and quarterbacks, it puts a lot of pressure on you.”
The Pats defense may be one of the most aggressive units in the NFL, but that aggressiveness does not come with the greater risk we have come to expect. Volin notes that while New England has the tenth highest blitz rate in the league, their creative defensive scheme, which includes intricate decoys, limits an opponents ability to take advantage.
- The Packers have one of the younger assistant coaching staffs in football under rookie head coach Matt LaFleur, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Tom Silverstein and LeRoy Butler of the Milwaukee Sentinel debate whether that could explain the inability for such a talented unit to really dominate opponents and get shutdown by the 49ers this past week. Silverstein opines that a more experienced staff might be better equipped to scheme their team advantages.
- Cowboys owner Jerry Jones once again offered strong public comments surrounding Dallas head coach Jason Garrett. This morning on Good Morning Football, Jones was asked about Garrett and responded, “I don’t have to win the Super Bowl in business every year. I can come in 6th and have a hell of a year. But in this business, you gotta come in first. I want Jason to get it done.” While the statement does not say anything definitively, it does suggest a certain level of ultimatum for his head coach: win the Super Bowl or else.
Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones On Jason Garrett’s Job Security
For most of the season, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has stood behind head coach Jason Garrett. That’s not necessarily the case today, however, following a 13-9 loss to the Patriots.
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On Tuesday morning, Jones told 105.3 The Fan that he is beyond “disappointed” with the club at this moment. Furthermore, he indicated that Garrett’s job is on the line, though he said that there would not be an in-season change.
“Disappointed is not the word. There’s no question that we were given an opportunity, there were things we could have taken advantage of,” Jones said.
Jones lit up Garrett after Sunday’s game and doesn’t seem to have cooled down much in the last 48 hours. Meanwhile, Garrett has five games left to restore the confidence of his boss.
With a 6-5 record, the Cowboys are atop the NFC East, with an edge over the second place Eagles (5-6). According to FiveThirtyEight, the Cowboys have a 65% shot of reaching the playoffs.
Garrett and the Cowboys will finish out the regular season against the Bills, Bears, Rams, Eagles, and Redskins.