Jerry Jones 'very satisfied' with Cowboys' COVID-19 vaccination rate

Pro Football Hall of Famer and Dallas Cowboys living legend Michael Irvin recently slammed his former team for not reaching the 85% COVID-19 vaccination threshold among players that allows for the removal of some virus-related protocols and restrictions ahead of the opening of training camp Wednesday. 

Per Kevin Patra of the NFL's website, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was more optimistic about the situation when speaking with reporters Wednesday. 

"Let me say this regarding our team and its vaccines. Everybody here, including you, everybody here in what we call Tier 1, 2 or 3, is vaccinated for the most part, if you'll give me 99% as for the most part, from that standpoint," Jones explained. "There could be one or two that aren't. From the standpoint of the players, we have what I call 'in the pipeline' -- that's committed but at some various stage of whether they need two vaccine shots and they have one or whether they're waiting a period of time so that they can have their vaccine and go through the protocol. We have, out of our 90 players here, we have a handful that, in my mind, have still to commit to this. A handful -- and a hand is five. Several, in my mind, in that finger of five, are on their way to potentially having their vaccine. So, that's where we are relative to the league at some 77%. We're very satisfied at where the Dallas Cowboys are as far as looking at our competition in the next few weeks ahead."

Jones added the Cowboys are on track to "be able to play anybody" they wish during the Hall of Fame Game versus the Pittsburgh Steelers on Aug. 5 and also said he thinks "we're one of the leaders" as it pertains to vaccinations. 

Jones' last comment isn't mathematically accurate, as it was reported last Friday that at least 13 NFL teams had hit or exceeded the 85% vaccination mark. Those league-wide numbers likely only will increase as training camp approaches and unvaccinated players must face the reality of living and working under guidelines similar to those used last year.