Thursday, October 10, 1996

Jones says he hopes Irvin is not booed when he comes back
By Jean-Jacques Taylor
Dallas Morning News
(Oct. 10, 1996)

DALLAS (KRT) - When Michael Irvin is announced to the Texas Stadium crowd Sunday for the first time this season, Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones said he hopes the Pro Bowl receiver is not showered with boos.

Irvin returned from his five-game suspension last week and will play his first game of the season against Arizona.

"I'm very sensitive to all of the perspectives on Michael, and there are many," Jones said. "I've heard comments on radio shows and received letters, but I haven't seen anything that wasn't genuine. We've had a run of negatives. How could we not want - not necessarily a standing ovation - but how could we not want this to end on a positive note."

Jones said people who overcome mistakes can be good examples if people learn from their mistakes.

"There are two kinds of people who bring out the best emotions," he said. "A hero, someone who has done heroic things, and people who have made mistakes. We like to see people get off the ground. That's a little bit of what sports is about."

The Cowboys lost four defensive starters from last season's Super Bowl championship team. But Coach Barry Switzer said the team is even better this season.

So far, the statistics support him.

The Cowboys are ranked No. 1 in the NFL in total and passing defense.

They lost defensive tackle Russell Maryland, linebackers Robert Jones and Dixon Edwards and cornerback Larry Brown. They were replaced with Chad Hennings, Fred Strickland, Broderick Thomas and Kevin Smith. Hennings didn't start last season, and Smith missed the 1995 season with a ruptured Achilles' tendon.

The key, though, said Switzer, is that the Cowboys have better schemes than they did last year.
"We spent the off-season trying to figure out how to stop the plays that hurt us last year," he said. "People got in formations last year and dictated how we should play. They can't do that this year."

With the recent contributions of tight end Eric Bjornson and running back Sherman Williams, the Cowboys' drafts the past three years don't look so bad.

Coach Barry Switzer said the drafts would look even better if several players had not sustained knee injuries.

Safety Charlie Williams, tight end Kendell Watkins, defensive tackle Mike Ulufale and guard Shane Hannah, who retired in training camp, sustained season-ending knee injuries in the past two years.

"We've been devastated by those injuries," Switzer said. "Charlie Williams would be a difference-maker for us on special teams, like he was last year, and he would have played in our nickel packages.

"If we had Charlie, we probably wouldn't have made some of the moves we did to get some safeties in here."

Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones and Coach Barry Switzer said they are convinced Pro Bowl tight end Jay Novacek will play sometime this season.

Novacek has not played this season because of a degenerative back condition.

Until he does, they are more than comfortable with Eric Bjornson at tight end. Bjornson has caught 18 passes for 176 yards and a touchdown this season.

"Bjornson has shown us right now that he has the ability to be a big-time player," Switzer said. "And that's what he has done with Jay out."

Even if Novacek returns this season, Jones said the 12-year veteran will play with pain. It's a matter, said Jones, of how much discomfort Novacek can take.

(c) 1996, Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

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