Jerry Jones skeptical whether Dallas Cowboys defense can be fixed with one trade

The Dallas Cowboys saw their game on Sunday against the Denver Broncos go sideways pretty quickly. In no small part, that was on the back of another weak defensive effort, struggling to get stops throughout the game.

By the time it was all said and done, Denver had put up 44 points on Dallas. That dropped the Cowboys to 3-4-1 on the season and, while this week’s slate of games isn’t quite over, it’s put Dallas 3.5 game out of first in the NFC East after the Philadelphia Eagles added another win. With that, owner and general manager Jerry Jones is looking for answers.

It seems like with the trade deadline approaching, it would make some sense to try to add to that struggling defense. However, Jones remains unconvinced that the defense is going to be fixed by one trade.

“If I saw a proposition for us to help this team, no matter what this score was today, then I would look at it on the merits of helping the team,” Jerry Jones said. “I would completely look at the merits for both next week or the weeks after [and the longer term]. No, today would not affect a decision on trading for a player.”

There are clearly some major issues on the defense, though. The Cowboys are currently 31st in total defense, giving up 404.6 yards per game. Then, Dallas is also 31st in scoring defense, giving up 31.3 points per game. Notably, that’s before Monday Night Football is played.

“I don’t know what’s realistic,” Jones said. “Could one better player — if we didn’t pay too big a price to have a better player on defense to possibly help? I’m not trying to be cute, but that’s why you’d go get him because you think that you could go help your defense. Are we one player away on defense? I think we’re not. I think we’re more than that away, but what we’re closer to than it looks, in my mind, is executing better on defense.”

The Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones have found their defense under particular scrutiny this season, not just for its struggles but because of the Micah Parsons trade this offseason. After a long contract dispute, Jones sent one of the best pass rushers in the NFL to the Green Bay Packers. Dallas is now 21st in the NFL in sacks, with 15. Green Bay has 21 in one fewer game. 6.5 of those sacks belong to Parsons.

Injuries have also taken their toll on Dallas, particularly its secondary. In the loss to Denver, the Cowboys were without three key members of the secondary. Safeties Juanyeh Thomas and Donovan Wilson were both inactive. Then, cornerback Trevon Diggs was placed on injured reserve. Alijah Clark would then be lost in the second half of the game.

“I don’t see lack of effort,” Jones said. “I see guys that could be surer, more firm in their execution.”