FRISCO, Texas _ The Dallas Cowboys don't have a No. 1 receiver. And they knew that coming into the season.
Still, owner Jerry Jones has made no secret that he covets one because they make difference-making plays in the game like DeAndre Hopkins did for the Houston Texans in last Sunday's 19-16 overtime victory.
And although the Cowboys cut Dez Bryant, the team's all-time leader in touchdown receptions in April, Jones said they haven't had a No. 1 receiver in years.
"We, first of all, a true No. 1, you saw one the other night and you see Julio Jones (of the Atlanta Falcons), you see players like that," Jones said on his radio show in 105.3 The Fan Tuesday. "Those guys that can absolutely change the ballgame with where they are. And that hasn't been our case for several years here that we've had a true No. 1, not a true No. 1. And those guys are _ would like to have one, would have liked to have had one, but we haven't."
It must be noted that the Cowboys felt Bryant was in that class when they gave him a five-year, $70 million contract extension following the 2014 season. But that was also the year Bryant had his last 1,000-yard season.
His numbers dropped precipitously over the past three seasons, forcing the Cowboys to release him because his production no longer matched his salary.
Asked if he didn't think Bryant was a No. 1 receiver with the Cowboys, Jones didn't flinch.
"Where did they go to the other night when they had to have it when it was all on the line?", Jones asked rhetorically. "And that's where you went to. And you see that. You can go down to Atlanta, Julio Jones. You go around to four or five different teams. If you look around the league, and I'm basically giving you my definition of a No. 1 receiver, it is Julio Jones. It is the guy we played the other night. Those are the guys. There are not but about a handful of those in the NFL."
And, evidently, those guys are not the Bryant who played for the Cowboys the past three seasons.
And certainly not anyone on the current roster, which Jones understood coming into the season.
The Cowboys have the 29th ranked passing offense and no receiver has more than 200 yards receiving but Jones believes they can get better. They must get better through the air and hopefully find some things they can rely on.
"We do have numbers of receivers and each one of them brings something to the table for us," Jones said. "We can have, if you will, but also have the challenge of continuing to see, if in fact, one, two, three receivers will really become indispensable to a play. We certainly do miss the pass option play that we did with (former quarterback Tony) Romo and (tight end Jason) Witten or we did with (quarterback) Dak (Prescott). We miss that. We're trying to get that in other ways. We still have guys in their way who can make the plays for us and we'll continue to work the passing game. Obviously, we need to get better in the passing game."
