Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones made waves earlier this week when he said he doesn't "have a sense of urgency" to get a deal done with star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who continues to hold out from the team in search of a new contract.
Before Sunday's preseason opener against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium, Jones attempted to clarify his comments.
“I think I got in trouble about it the other day when I said, ‘Look, we’re not urgent about CeeDee,’” Jones said on the team's pregame show on CBS 11. Well, no one appreciates CeeDee being on the field any more than I do.
“But let me say this, he wouldn’t be taking a snap out here today if he’d been here. You’ve got to use your head when you expose key players. ... We know exactly what CeeDee can do. He worked out with Dak. And so we wouldn’t have him out here. It has really not anything to do with his contract. Dak won’t be out here this afternoon.
“And so the bottom line is, what it is is, no, there’s not that urgency. Now, I understand completely the angst that’s happening when you’re anxious about and someone says anything about whether you’re missed or not. Well, CeeDee, you’re missed, OK? But you’re not missed out here competing, and it doesn’t put any pressure, anyplace on us. It’s not pressure out here today and in practice.”
Jones' quote earlier this week, relayed by media members on X, caught the attention of Lamb, who responded on his X account by writing "lol." He also removed "America's Team" from his bio on the social media platform.