Jerry Jones sees Patriots as "role models" for their handling of Tom Brady's suspension
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| Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images |
If you put the word Patriots and role models in the same sentence, the masses would probably raise an eyebrow or two.
But the copycat nature of the NFL had led Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who may be clinically insane, to describe the Patriots as such. Dallas is facing a plethora of possible suspensions, the most notable being Ezekiel Elliott.
Because of that, Jones looked at the way New England handled Tom Brady's suspension and basically said "if they can do it, we can too!"
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"I feel this team, I look at the great job that [coach] Bill Belichick and that bunch up there, the reigning Super Bowl champions, does up there," Jones said, via DallasNews.com. "I really look at them as role models. They deal with suspensions. They started the year with a big suspension last year and they deal with suspensions."
"And so you get the feeling that with this team that it can handle these adversities because as sure as I am sitting here we're going to have some that we don't even mention here today. And I don't know how many of them there are, but before we get this, the old verbiage, wagon train out there we're going to have to burn some wagons and float the Mississippi with some of the others."
In addition to Elliott, the Cowboys are set to lose David Irving and Nolan Carroll. They just cut Lucky Whitehead and Jaylon Smith still looks more out of place than Ed Sheeran in that Game of Thrones cameo from two weeks ago.
The argument against the Cowboys is that the Patriots had to only overcome one suspension, albeit a giant one, and were still had more than enough talent to survive until Brady returned. Additionally, the Patriots will almost always be better equipped to handle a big suspension or injury than most teams due to superior coaching and depth, if nothing else.
However, without Elliott, the Cowboys still boast a dynamic offense with Dak Prescott, Dez Bryant, Jason Witten and the best offensive line in the league.
Backup running back Darren McFadden has filled in admirably when called upon and even carved out a 1,000-yard season in 2015, so it isn't crazy to think Dallas could be OK without Elliott for a few weeks if they stay healthy.
Hopefully for the Cowboys, if Elliott does get suspended, it's early on in the year. The last thing any team wants is for a star player to miss time towards the middle or the end of the year when they're either fighting for a playoff spot or are trying to get a playoff bye week.
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