Cowboys' Stephen Jones Says 'We Need to Worry About Ourselves' in NFC East Race

Stephen Jones' Dallas Cowboys are off to a 1-2 start, and even though that's good enough for a share of first place in a troubled NFC East, the head coach isn't paying attention to his conference opponents.

"I think we're tied for first place as we sit here right now," the team's executive vice president said in an appearance on 105.3 The Fan (h/t Dallas Morning News). "So, we just got to go to work. We need to worry about ourselves. We don't need to worry about other people, about other teams. We need to worry about our team, and I think things will take care of themselves."

At the top of the NFC East, the Cowboys are joined by a 1-2 Washington team. Philadelphia is 0-2-1, and though the Giants are 0-3, they have allowed 79 points in their first three losses of the season—an NFC low. 

Jones said he wouldn't use the word "optimism" to describe his feelings toward his team's early standings, but he said the Cowboys are "still very much in the mix." They have yet to play a team in their division, with their record coming after losses to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1 and the Seattle Seahawks in Week 3, with a victory over the Atlanta Falcons in the middle.

The Cowboys put up a fight in both losses, coming within a field goal of the Rams in the season opener and falling by one score in Seattle. Of course, their win came during the Falcons' collapse in Week 2, when the Cowboys came back from being down 39-24 with seven minutes left to win 40-39. 

Dallas won't get their hands on a division opponent until Week 5 when they host the New York Giants. Before that, Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns are headed to Texas fresh off of a 34-20 victory over the Washington Football Team.

Jones said the easier road ahead will give Dallas some breathing room: 

"To be candid with you, that's the league, but we played three Super Bowl type quarterbacks in Matt Ryan and [Jared] Goff and now Russell Wilson. You're talking about veteran quarterbacks who know what they're doing out there, and certainly you don't go against that every week."

If you're going to go 1-2 in your worst start to a season since 2010, it seems like the NFC East is the best place to do it.