NFL Notes: Jerry Jones, Seahawks, Texans

Jerry Jones

NFL commissioner informed Cowboys owner Jerry Jones back on August 9 that they were going to discipline RB Ezekiel Elliott as part of their investigation into the domestic violence allegations against him.

According to Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham, Jones believed that the commissioner had assured him this past spring that there would be no suspension.

Sources with direct knowledge of the call tell ESPN that Jones told Goodell: “I’m gonna come after you with everything I have. If you think Bob Kraft came after you hard, Bob Kraft is a p—y compared to what I’m going to do.”

After Goodell suspended Elliott, Jones saw it as a “complete betrayal.”

As for Goodell’s contract situation, ESPN reports that those who have discussed the contract situation with him have described him as “furious” and “emboldened” at the notion of accepting a deep pay cut, considering how much money he’s made for owners over the years.

Goodell is reportedly seeking around $49 million per year, which includes incentives, along with the use of a private jet for life and health care for life for his family. However, NFL owners expect him to land in the range of $40 million a year.

The fact that the NFL doesn’t have a clear successor in place for Goodell gives him leverage, as it’s possible he could threaten to walk away if owners push too hard.

Even so, Jones has threatened to make Goodell’s life miserable.

“Jerry’s message to Roger was ‘I run this league. You better get with it,'” a senior league executive said. “This is about power and control, not the contract. That’s all white noise.”

Seahawks

Seahawks DE Dion Jordan said he’s feeling “pretty good” and explained that just getting back to this point was much harder than playing football.

“I felt good physically,” Jordan said, via Pro Football Talk. “I feel like a lot of the work I’ve done to get out there was a lot tougher than the actual game, but I felt pretty good.”

Jordan explained that his issues in Miami can be attributed to a lack of preparation.

“It’s tough man,” Jordan said of his tenure in Miami. “I think my issue was I didn’t prepare myself, I didn’t game plan on what I was going to do once I became a professional, how I was going to deal with everything. I kind of just jumped right in and I just let everything happen to me instead of taking the reins and taking control of everything. It was tough on myself. I can’t lie. My mistakes showed.

“I didn’t prepare myself for that next step (after the draft). I didn’t game plan for that next step. I just got there and just kind of let everything just play out instead of just working to be everything that I wanted to be as a football player and control my life outside of the football.”

Jordan added that he’s really looking forward to the future now that he’s worked his way back from a knee injury and the off-the-field issues that plagued his career with the Dolphins.

“Of course, man. I really do,” Jordan said. “The hunger to get out here, to just get my life back with football and everything was huge for me. This is just the first step and I just feel really excited to be in a position that I am right now as a young man and as a football player. To come to a team like this and just be able to be embraced and embrace everything that this culture was built on.”

Texans

Texans HC Bill O’Brien made it clear that it’s time for Tom Savage to show what he can do as the team’s starting quarterback.

“Yeah, he doesn’t have a ton of experience, but it’s time,” O’Brien said, via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. “It’s time. It’s time to get going.”

“The quarterback’s judged on two things: how many times he gets his team in the end zone and wins,” O’Brien added. “That’s basically how it’s judged.”