Jerry Jones poured out his frustration with the coaching staff following the Cowboys' latest loss, Dallas' second in the past three weeks.
The players read the comments, knowing the pressure is on more than just the coaching staff, but it didn't affect their mentality moving forward to Thursday's Thanksgiving tilt versus the Buffalo Bills.
Veteran Jason Witten, who has played for the Cowboys for 16 years, expects the type of pointed comments made by Jones this week.
"Passion, emotion, the energy he brings, that is Line 1 for Mr. Jones, I feel like from my perspective," the tight end said Tuesday, via ESPN. "He wants to win. He expects to win. He feels like he's put a great team together, which he has, and we haven't played to our expectations of where we should be. That's completely fair. I think it's just the raw emotion of it all. He's been around a lot of great football and knows what he wants it to look like."
Running back Ezekiel Elliott said he hadn't heard exactly what Jones said but noted there is frustration after the Cowboys fell to 6-5, having not beaten a team with a winning record.
"Just with us not winning, you're going to be frustrated," Elliott said. "Where we are grateful is that we do control our destiny and we can control our destiny in these last games and get into these playoffs."
Jones' comments zeroed in on the coaching staff, which has failed to get the most out of the talent compiled by the GM/owner. However, players took ownership of the record as well, noting they have to play better down the stretch to make the playoffs and play more than one weekend into January.
"We're the players," guard Zack Martin said, via the team's official website. "This thing goes all the way around. We've got to do a better job executing."
A loss to the 8-3 Bills on Thanksgiving, with much of America watching, could spell drastic changes in Dallas.
