Why Cowboys' Jerry Jones literally grounded WR Brandin Cooks
Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones found little humor in the recent viral video that showed wide receiver Brandin Cooks flying teammates Micah Parsons and Stephon Gilmore in a small plane ahead of this past Saturday's preseason game at the Seattle Seahawks.
"One thing I want to do is chastise Cooks for getting in that airplane with the best part of the team and flying up there with him," Jones directly said, according to Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I was glad I didn’t know that was going on. I would have to tell him part-time pilots, in my mind, are not the way to go."
Cooks joined the Cowboys from the Houston Texans via an offseason trade and understandably is still trying to build chemistry and relationships with new teammates ahead of the upcoming season.
While Hill noted Cooks has logged over 250 hours in the air and first earned his pilot’s license two years ago, it can't be forgotten that NFL contracts often prohibit players from enjoying these types of extracurricular activities during preseasons and campaigns.
To his credit, Cooks seemed to understand Jones' negative reaction to the flying clip.
"I haven’t seen him yet, but if I was him, I’d feel the same way," Cooks said about Jones. "He’s got a lot of money invested in the guys in that plane."
Cooks revealed a veteran pilot was also part of the trip to help keep the players safe in the event something went terribly wrong. Nevertheless, it sounds like the 29-year-old has accepted his grounding until further notice.
"That was probably the last flight of the year," Cooks acknowledged. "I’d obviously never do anything like that during the regular season. We’ll get back to it after February."
As of Wednesday afternoon, OddsChecker listed the Cowboys third among betting favorites at +650 odds to represent the NFC in Super Bowl LVIII this coming February.
Pro Football Talk's Josh Alper suggested on Wednesday that Jones could allow Cooks to fly a championship banner over Dallas if "America's Team" is the last club standing this winter, but the outspoken owner still may not love the idea of multiple stars joining the veteran receiver for such a journey.
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