Posted by Will Brinson

Despite the fact that the Cowboys are 1-4 for the first time since 2001, Jerry Jones says there will not be a coaching change this season.

Jones told reporters following Dallas' loss that Wade Phillips job was safe from termination.

"I would never consider [firing a coach] during the season," Jones said.

However, Jones did say he was "not [optimistic]" and that he was "very disappointed."

The combination of Jerry's feeling and Dallas' record means that Phillips is about as lame-duck as you get six weeks into the season -- it's hard to imagine that Jones wouldn't make some sort of change barring a totally unexpected run to the Super Bowl.

Posted by Will Brinson

Yesterday, we mentioned that one of the most disappointing things about the week in football was a lack of Jerry Jones flipping out on Wade Phillips.

Well, today Jerry Jones came out and gave Wade Phillips the dreaded "public vote of confidence" which means we might not be that far off from some fireworks.

"I can just give you a very affirmative 'no,' " Jones told KRLD-FM in Dallas on Friday when asked if Phillips might be fired.

"I do believe in Wade and the staff and the players," said Jones. "The thing about it is when you have that kind of commitment, one of the No. 1 things you have it for is those situations. Those people are supposed to really be there in hard times. Hard times. That's when you've got to make your best grade if you're deserving of that commitment and we're in hard times."

Jerry also said he was "in the saddle" with Wade and his team, and, really, as much as we'd love to think that the fiery owner would can Phillips after three games and a poor start, there's not much logic in doing so, primarily because he wouldn't have an immediate replacement available.

Maybe there's someone like Bill Cowher out there (Andy and I mentioned this on our podcast this week ) but why would a guy like Cowher risk his reputation by stepping in to take over an 0-3 team? Answer: he wouldn't.

Additionally, Jerry's never fired someone midseason before, and barring the Cowboys going winless through October, you can all but bet that he won't start this year.

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Givin Em the Business recognizes all the people that annoyed you from the week that was in football. Feel free to provide nominations either in the comments or by yelling at us on Twitter (@CBSSportsNFL) .

Rank	Who	Why
1	Braylon Edwards	Everyone's done stupid stuff in their life before. Sometimes drunk driving is among that stupid stuff. But that doesn't excuse this bearded clown hopping in a car -- with two teammates! -- and cruising around New York City -- a city with approximately 7,000,000 taxi cabs! -- absolutely lit up -- two times the legal limit! -- while ignoring the fact that his team is under a microscope -- and that they provide a taxi service for players! The best part was when he said he didn't think it caused a black eye for his team. /SMH
2	DirecTV	Full disclosure: I am a DirecTV customer. I love DirecTV almost as much as I hate Time Warner. I spend hundreds of dollars a month their way for excessive sports packages (and some movie action, but just about 25 percent worth, if the IRS happens to be reading). But the joke of a job they're doing with their online Sunday Ticket package makes AT&T look like a competent cell phone company.
3	Andy Reid	Hey, big guy, make up your freaking mind, m'kay? Look, sometimes I find myself sitting at the buffet line wondering whether I want the quickly cooked hot wings or the slow-cooked ribs. And then I think "OHHHH, I want BOTH." So I keep walking back and forth between the two, trying desperately to decide which it is I want, flipping back and forth a couple times, before I finally just decide to have both. Of course, that doesn't make me a bad person because I'm not making decisions about REAL PEOPLE.
4	Brandon Jacobs	The NFL is (in Jacobs' own words) a 'cutthroat business.' As such, if you lose some reps, get fired or treated poorly, well, you have to deal with it like a grown man. It seemed like Jacobs was going to do that the first time, when he merely stated how disappointed he was for himself. Now, he's suddenly throwing helmets into stands and not-actually demanding to get trades. Follow your own advice, Brandon, and act like a man.
5	Vincent Jackson	There's some sympathy to be had for a guy that deserves more money than he's making and only got hosed because the CBA got cancelled. But there's also something to be said to the guy who could have signed a multi-million dollar tender, played this year and then earned a fatty-fatterson contract next offseason. And that thing is, "SIGN THE DAMN CONTRACT, DUDE."
6	A.J. Smith	Of course, V-Jax isn't just at fault -- could Smith and the Chargers really not just have given him a little bump in pay? Or said, "you know what, forget it, we'll take a second- and a fourth-rounder in exchange from Minnesota." They don't need him, necessarily, but why on Earth you'd pass up that kind of draft bonus in 2011 or that kind of production in 2010 is beyond anything reasonable.
7	Albert Haynesworth	Well, this is getting repitive, isn't it? There's a good chance Haynesworth makes it here every week. The amazing thing about his appearance today, though, is the fact that he was inactive for his team's loss against the Texans on Sunday for "being a pain." And he very nearly became the first person ever to get put on the inactive list after the game. Either way, Haynesworth clearly can't get rid of his attitude problem, he clearly can't get along with coach Mike Shanahan, and he clearly needs to get traded so we can stop talking about this every week.
8	Jerry Jones	JERRAH. What is the deal with this calm reaction to an 0-2 start? Why ae you supporting the team and Wade Phillips and trying to act like you're not worried about the team slowly losing its grasp on a chance to win a Super Bowl in your brand new stadium?!? Come on, man! We want hellfire and brimstone and cooking Phillips' bacon cooking and a midseason coaching fire and Tony Romo benching and everything else that comes with a really angry Texas billionaire.
9	Matt Moore	The one thing that your team asks you to do, Mr. Moore, is to not turn the ball over. It also helps if you can not do so in the red zone as well. And really, anything slightly better than "Jake Delhomme" would satisfy the Panthers' fans and coaches. Yet, you're somehow worse. So now we all have to deal with the prospect that Jimmy Clausen could be good and Mel Kiper could be right. Also: all of our NBA blogger-as-a-quarterback jokes are dead . Thanks for nothing.
10	Icing the Kicker	No, this does NOT have to do with me losing one of my expert picks because Gary Kubiak out Mike Shanahan'd Mike Shanahan. It has to do with a ridiculous rule that shouldn't be in the NFL anymore. Look, it's okay to ice a kicker as the team is lining up and about to snap, but icing someone literally seconds before the snap happens and forcing the kick to go through is ridiculous. It's like standing next to someone who's putting on the 18th for their career low and screaming in their face, then giving them a mulligan and promising you'll be quiet. In other words, just annoying.

Posted by Will Brinson

Jerry Jones and Dan Synder are two of the most recognizable names in NFL ownership -- they're also diametrically opposed when it comes to their team's interests on the field.

But they joined forces recently for a Papa John's commercial. This is the moment where I would link you to the hysterical video of me and Papa John at the Super Bowl in Miami last year but for some reason it's been pulled from YouTube.

Instead, via Papa John's Facebook page (via Dan Steinberg at D.C. Sports Bog ), I'll offer up some more photos of Jerrah, Danny and the Papa. By the by, the point of this little meet-up is that Jones and Snyder -- who both have sponsorships with the pizza chain at their respective stadiums -- are appearing in a commercial that'll air a week from Sunday when the Redskins and Cowboys face off.

Posted by Andy Benoit

For Dez Bryant, the long – long – wait is finally over. The Cowboys’ first-round rookie receiver tweeted that he can take the field against the Dolphins for the team’s final preseason game this Thursday.

Bryant has missed virtually all of training camp and the preseason with an ankle injury. And, thanks to his NCAA suspension, he hasn’t played a true organized football game since September 2009.

The Fort Worth Star Telegram reports that Bryant is indeed medically cleared to play. However, the Cowboys might be cautious and hold him out.
 
It's a question of is it worth some of the risk," Jerry Jones said.  "If we end up playing our regulars, then that might make a difference. We typically have not played a full set of our players, so that might be something we might consider since we've got a chance to have our starters out there."

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

It’s not all that often that a coach is so upset with his team that he threatens to play the starters in the fourth and final exhibition game before the regular season begins. Since taking over Dallas in 2007, Wade Phillips certainly wasn’t the kind of coach to make that decision.

But Phillips was so disgusted by what he saw in the Cowboys 23-7 loss to the Texans Saturday that he’s thinking about doing exactly that (even if owner Jerry Jones isn’t all that concerned with the poor showing ).

"I'm not ruling out that we won't play our guys," Phillips told reporters after the game, including the Dallas Morning News’ Gerry Fraley. "We have to evaluate this."

The evaluation will probably read something like this: Dallas stunk out loud against the Texans, and for a team that is so ready to return to the Super Bowl, that’s not a good trend to start.

The defense allowed Texas’ running backs to average 4.8 yards per carry, and the Cowboys gave Houston permission to do pretty much whatever the Texans wanted. And the offense? Well, the offense wasn’t so swell either.

Fraley explains:

In five full series, the first offense produced zippo. For 12 full possessions in the exhibition season, the first offense has managed 13 points on a touchdown and two field goals. The touchdown capped an 8-yard drive against San Diego.

No wonder offensive coordinator Jason Garrett acknowledged the first offense probably will play some against Miami. It needs the work.
 
"We had too many mistakes," quarterback Tony Romo said. "We need to get better."

Romo was actually a highlight, completing 13 of 18 throws with drops by wide receiver Miles Austin and tight end Jason Witten. The Cowboys again had nothing resembling a ground game.

Even so, it’s hard to imagine Phillips putting his first team units at risk in the final tuneup before the season begins. Maybe he’ll play them a series. Two, at most. Anything else would not be very smart. Especially because we know how Jerry Jones feels about Cowboys who suffer injuries in practice .

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Posted by Andy Benoit

Wade Phillips would never in a million years say this, so we’ll say it for him: he hates it when Jerry Jones talks about players’ injuries. How do we know? Because every coach hates talking about injuries. Imagine how a coach must feel when someone else is talking about injuries for him.

Plus, it’s the way Jones talks about injuries. He has a tendency to put undue pressure on guys. (Remember when Jones questioned Marion Barber’s toe injury two years ago?)

Jones was running his mouth again Wednesday, touching on the health of four starters. The first victim was right tackle Marc Colombo, who is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery. "He's very pleased that they cleaned out and found what they found," Jones said, according to the Dallas Morning News. "It makes him very optimistic, and me too, about his future — not just this year, but years to come. Really, really I think (having had the surgery) is a good thing."

Next, veteran linebacker Keith Brooking. "I like the idea of Brooking getting a little time off and a break away from what he will be asked to do during the season," Jones said.

Okay, so far so good. Nothing too bad here. After all, it’s been expected that Colombo and Brooking will both be ready for the opener.
But then there was what Jones said regarding Kyle Kosier. The left guard was expected to miss up to three regular season games with a sprained knee. But the owner thinks the recovery time can be quicker – much quicker, in fact.

"We'll get him back — hopefully, hopefully — for the first game," Jones said. "I'm planning on it. ... We'll see how he progresses."
Perhaps Kosier is ahead of schedule and will be ready for Week 1. It still does him – and the rest of the team – a disservice to make that information public. What if Kosier ends up missing the first three games, as expected? Now he looks bad, and the Cowboys training staff thinks they look bad.

Jones also touched on the health of wide receiver Dez Bryant, though he put noticeably less pressure on the prized first-round rookie: "Certainly Dez is improving, just (chomping) at the bit, can't understand why he can't get out here and participate," Jones said. "But he's got to have blind faith in his coaches and trainers that we're doing what's best."

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz and Andy Benoit

Got links for the Hot Routes? Follow us on Twitter or send an email to josh [dot] katzowitz [at] cbsinteractive [dot] com.

-I love this quote from new Seattle DL Kentwan Balmer on what happened in San Francisco during the past week: “You’re very persistent, man.” No explanation was forthcoming, though the Seahawks seemed pretty impressed with Balmer after his first practice with his new team. Props to the AP reporter for being persistent, though.

-One intriguing storyline for Saturday’s Baltimore-Washington preseason game (you just have to manufacture these storylines for the preseason, eh?) is the return of Ravens quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn to face the team he used to coach. He insists it won’t be awkward .

-The Bengals cut last year’s fourth-round pick, C Jonathan Luigs. The move is a little surprising , because Luigs was the top center in college football while at Arkansas. He’s battled some injuries this offseason, but he played half the season on special teams last year. He wasn’t going to replace starter Kyle Cook, but he seemed like a decent-enough backup.

-Todd Haley was asked about his physical training camps . “It’s all I know,” Haley said. Why is this interesting (or, at least, sort of interesting)? Physical training camps are less and less popular these days. Haley has come under fire on more than one occasion for having a confrontational, perhaps even disrespectful, demeanor towards veteran players. All we know is this: Larry Johnson would disapprove. Not to mention Jerry Jones.

-Could Texans fourth-round rookie Darryl Sharpton really be challenging Xavier Adibi for a starting linebacker job while Brian Cushing is out? Apparently, so.

-The NFL Network forgot to blackout the Bengals-Broncos game for some lucky Northern Kentucky viewers . D’oh. Les Vann, the local CBS affiliate’s VP and GM was less than pleased. “I cannot imagine how the league would have reacted if we had a ‘communication error’ and failed to black out the game.”

-Eagles cornerback Asante Samuel has a hamstring injury, but it doesn’t sound like a big deal . He’s not practicing this morning, though.

-Browns right guard Floyd Womack (some call him “Pork Chop”) is out for the rest of the preseason after getting his knee scoped.

-A player sitting out practice because of tightness in the lower back normally isn’t a cause for major concern … unless that player is Packers DE Justin Harrell.

-Raiders defensive end Jay Richardson is expected to miss the rest of training camp after knee surgery.
 
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