The Cowboys held a state of the team press conference to open up training camp on Friday afternoon and, after a lengthy opening statement from owner Jerry Jones, faced several questions about the suspended players on their defense.
Of particular interest was the status of linebacker Rolando McClain, who skipped the team’s flight to California for camp. Vice president Stephen Jones confirmed that neither McClain nor linebacker Randy Gregory, who is reportedly in a treatment facility and facing an extension of his four-game suspension, are not with the team.
“Rolando and Gregory are both on reserve/did not report,” Jones said. “There are some details about their situations that we cannot report.”
The younger Jones said that the team did not feel like flaws in their program or an organizational fondness for taking risks on players contributed to the suspensions of McClain, Gregory and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and said that the team will “continue to look at each individual on his own merits.” The elder Jones said that there are always things you can’t control with players, citing a paintball injury suffered by linebacker Damien Wilson that will keep him off the field for a few weeks.
Coach Jason Garrett called the culture of the team an “overwhelming strength” and said that they’ll move on from players who don’t fit that culture. As of now, that hasn’t been the case for McClain despite multiple suspensions.
