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Finally, after a delay and weeks of wondering, the NFL schedule will be released at 7 p.m. CT today.

Here's a primer for the Cowboys:

Who they play: The home games are against the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Rams, Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders. The road games are against the NFC East and Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints, Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers.

Reunion games: The Cowboys will face former defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, now in New Orleans. Defensive line coach Rod Marinelli takes on the Lions, whom he was the head coach for from 2006-08, at Ford Field and the Bears, where he was an assistant/defensive coordinator the last three seasons, at Soldier Field. Of course, Tony Romo faces his favorite team growing up, the Packers.

The strength of schedule: Cowboys' opponents had a .475 winning percentage last season. There are four teams on the schedule -- Washington, Green Bay, Minnesota and Denver -- who reached the postseason last year.

Who plays on Thanksgiving? The Cowboys have alternated NFC-AFC opponents on Thanksgiving Day, with the Redskins (NFC team) visiting Cowboys Stadium last season. Possible opponents this season could be Denver and Oakland. The Cowboys faced the Raiders on Thanksgiving in 2009, so the Broncos appear the favorite for 2013.

Late season schedule: The Cowboys posted a 3-2 mark in December last season and it still wasn't good enough to reach the postseason. The Cowboys were a combined 5-7 from 2009-11 in December. A late-season road game in New Orleans or Chicago could have playoff implications, if that's what the schedule reads.

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Former NFL wide receiver Tim Brown joins Fitzsimmons & Durrett to talk about the elimination of the tuck rule and his thoughts on the Cowboys. Listen

Cowboys free agent linebacker Victor Butler is drawing interest from several teams.

There are reports that he is visiting the New Orleans Saints on Thursday. Butler has also visited the Pittsburgh Steelers and has the New York Jets interested in his services.

Butler was a backup for the Cowboys, but former defensive coordinator Rob Ryan loved the impact he made on the field. The problem with Butler was consistency, or lack thereof.

A look at the Cowboys' coaches stats from the 2012 season reveals Butler did make plays. He was fourth on the team in sacks (three), had seven quarterback pressures, three pass breakups and one forced fumble.

Butler is one of those players who could excel with a new team in the 3-4 scheme, which is what the Saints are moving toward with Ryan as their defensive coordinator.

IRVING, Texas – With all the injuries the Cowboys had in 2012 on the defensive side of the ball, it seemed like Rob Ryan had to re-teach his scheme to a new player every week.

The Cowboys lost Sean Lee, Bruce Carter, Kenyon Coleman, Jay Ratliff and Orlando Scandrick, as well as Josh Brent to injured reserve or the non-football injury list, forcing the team to find street free agents like Ernie Sims, Brady Poppinga, Brian Schaefering and Charlie Peprah and poach Sterling Moore off New England’s practice squad.

It was taxing and difficult, considering the supposed complexities of Ryan’s schemes.

Part of the desire to add Monte Kiffin as defensive coordinator and move to the 4-3 was the supposed simplistic nature of the scheme.

“In this day and age in the NFL, with shortened offseasons, shortened training camps, injuries, all those kinds of things, it’s important to try and put offensive and defensive systems in place that allow you to deal with the schedule and absorb the injuries that very well could happen,” head coach Jason Garrett said. “That was one of the philosophical advantages of playing this 4-3 defense. We think it can be a simpler defense for us, for guys to come in here and learn in this day and age, and also if you have the injuries to absorb it allows you to maybe do that a little bit better.”

IRVING, Texas – With Rob Ryan at least in the mix to be New Orleans' next defensive coordinator -- if he's not already the guy -- let’s play a game of connect the dots involving Anthony Spencer.

The Saints are moving to the 3-4 scheme with or without Ryan as coordinator, which would make Spencer an attractive free-agent fit anyway. By adding Ryan to the mix, the Saints would be an even more likely destination for Spencer, who had his best season under Ryan.

Look at Ryan’s run with the Cowboys as an example. In 2011, the Cowboys signed Kenyon Coleman and Abram Elam, in part because of their pasts with Ryan in Cleveland. In 2012, the Cowboys signed Brodney Pool, who played for Ryan but lasted just a week or so into training camp.

By reconnecting with Spencer in New Orleans, Ryan would have somebody with experience running his defense. He would also have the best available outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense. Spencer had a career-high 11 sacks and was a late add to the Pro Bowl after leading the Cowboys in tackles.

The Cowboys want to keep Spencer, but they might not have the salary cap wherewithal to keep him with a long-term deal. They could place the franchise tag on him for a second straight year at a cost of $10.6 million and could be open to making a trade for picks.

Are the New Orleans Saints a much better fit for Rob Ryan than the Dallas Cowboys were? First Take debates ...

Ernie Sims

Position: Linebacker

Type: Unrestricted

Summary: When the Cowboys lost Sean Lee for the season to a toe injury, they called on Sims even though he did not have any experience in the 3-4. In 10 games (six starts), he was credited with 42 tackles, a sack, two pressures and three pass deflections. He battled through a concussion that limited him late in the season, but he shored up a spot that was depleted as the season went on.

Why keep him: The move to the 4-3 might actually help Sims' chances to return. While Lee will be the starter at middle linebacker, Sims could be a viable backup option. He does not turn 29 until Dec. 23.

Why let him go: As well as he played with no preparation time, it must be pointed out that he was out of football for a reason last October. He has ability, but he's not part of a future foundation.

Best guess: He will test the market to see if his 10-game audition in 2012 did enough to warrant interest from other teams. Sims could be part of a fall-back plan at a low cost for the Cowboys.

Follow the rest of the series here.

At least Jerry Jones is trying to hide the strings he attached to his head coach.

Jerry at least recognizes that the perception that he’s turned Jason Garrett into a puppet after two seasons with no playoff bids is a problem. Jerry cares enough to be aggressively defensive, insisting in an in-house interview posted on the team’s website that Garrett is the guy calling the shots when it comes to who calls the Cowboys’ offensive plays next season.

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It’s transparent spin control – and remember Jerry’s favorite line: “Just because I say it doesn’t make it so” – but it’s at least a little tangible proof that Jerry’s power trip has some limits. And it shows some awareness that publicly stripping Garrett of any semblance of authority would be an awful thing for an owner/general manager to do.

Of course, this is probably too little, too late, much like many of Garrett’s halftime adjustments after his offense stumbled out of the gate.

Perhaps there is a kernel of truth to Jerry’s spin. It sounds as if Garrett gets to pick the Cowboys’ next play-caller, as long as it’s not him again, which essentially means he can prevent an interim coach candidate from being added to his staff.

But only a fool would believe that it was Garrett’s idea to give up play-calling. He made it clear the day after the Cowboys’ 8-8 season ended that he believed the “status quo” was in the Cowboys’ best interests. He suddenly became more open-minded on the subject a couple of days later, coincidentally after Jerry went on his radio show and strongly hinted that a change was coming after six disappointing years with Garrett calling plays.

You think Garrett’s good buddies and old teammates such as Troy Aikman and Daryl "Moose" Johnston would be critical of taking play-calling responsibilities away from ol’ Redball if this was all Garrett’s idea? C’mon, man.

Oh, we’re also supposed to believe that it was Garrett’s idea to run his brother John out of Valley Ranch, right?

Here’s all you need to know about Jerry’s confidence in Garrett: He insisted that Wade Phillips’ fingerprints be all over the defense after the Cowboys missed the playoffs in his second season as a head coach, but it’s the polar opposite with Garrett and the offense at this point. Jerry believed in Phillips’ X’s and O’s expertise. He hopes Garrett can do a better job as a “walk-around” head coach.

It’s hilarious to hear Jerry pump up the impact that Garrett can have without the burden of being the offensive play-caller. This coming from a man who has made condescending comments about “walk-around” head coaches for years, despite the fact that the three Lombardi Trophies he’s hoisted came with head coaches who didn’t call plays.

Gee whiz, good thing the Cowboys’ GM has such a strong, sensible plan in place.

The funny thing is, on paper, all the decisions Jerry has made with the coaching staff this offseason have been good ones. There’s no reason to doubt that Jerry, who has a lot of ego and dollars invested in Garrett, is just trying to help his head coach succeed.

Jerry has just gone about making the right decisions in the wrong way, removing a proud coach’s spine in the process.

You won’t find a bigger Rob Ryan fan than me, but there’s no denying that the Cowboys have hired not one, but two defensive coordinators with much more impressive credentials. You can question Monte Kiffin’s age and ability to adjust to the modern-day NFL, but he’s an NFL legend. New defensive line coach Rod Marinelli, who did a tremendous job as the turnover-happy Chicago Bears’ defensive coordinator, is the most overqualified position coach in the NFL.

And Garrett should have given up play-calling a year ago, after he was exposed as overwhelmed by the dual roles of coordinating the offense and managing the clock. It makes no sense to have a continuation of mediocrity, which describes the Cowboys’ offense in the category that matters most (points scored).

But when Jerry promised an “uncomfortable” offseason, it made it clear who was making the decisions at Valley Ranch. That was emphasized when the buzz began about forcing Garrett’s brother out of town – as justified as that was due to the lack of development of the Cowboys’ younger tight ends.

The only realistic way to describe stripping Garrett of play-calling duties at this point is as a demotion. Garrett will enter the season on the NFL’s hottest seat, with a staff loaded with newcomers who just so happen to have strong ties to potential replacements Jon Gruden and Lovie Smith.

It does Jerry no good to have Garrett seen as a lame duck, but there’s nothing he can do about that now.

It takes much more than one staged interview to clean up the mess after cutting a coach’s legs out from under him.

Talking on ESPN radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning, DeMarcus Ware expressed disappointment that Rob Ryan won't be with the Cowboys in 2013 and offered strong sentiment for his former defensive coordinator.

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"He was one of the best coaches I've ever played for, really teaching me how to play and think like a linebacker," Ware said Thursday. "I had to go in there and know all the drops the inside backers would have and I had to know all the formations, knowing the skill of the game, he really taught me that a lot."

Ware, 30, had 31 sacks in Ryan's two seasons in Dallas.

"Once I heard about his firing, I didn't like it at first, but it's a business deal." Ware said. "It's nothing that I can do about it. You just got to get out there and play.

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Cowboys LB DeMarcus Ware joins Mike & Mike and gives his take on the NFL's rule changes, Dallas' dismissal of Rob Ryan, whether his team has underachieved, mobile QBs and more. Listen

"Now we have Monte Kiffin coming in running the 4-3, we can be more aggressive up front. I'll be playing defensive end and you just got to roll with the punches."

Ware will move from outside linebacker to defensive end in 2013 in Kiffin's scheme.

Ware, who had 11.5 sacks last season, might have picked up more if not for elbow and shoulder injuries that limited his play the last month of the season. He underwent shoulder surgery this offseason and told Mike and Mike he should be ready for the start of the 2013 season.

Ware will now play for his fourth different defensive coordinator. That doesn't include Brian Stewart, who was the coordinator under Wade Phillips but was demoted during the 2008 season, and Paul Pasqualoni, who replaced Phillips in the second half of the 2010 season.

It looks like Rob Ryan is going to need more than five minutes to get a new job.

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Ryan won't get the St. Louis Rams defensive coordinators job, as coach Jeff Fisher said Ryan's scheme just wouldn't be a good fit.

Maybe Fisher -- and a few other personnel people -- have come to the conclusion that Ryan's defense isn't good enough. From a statistical standpoint, the Cowboys regressed under Ryan.

In 2011, Ryan's first season, the Cowboys had 15 interceptions. That slipped to seven in 2012, tied for fewest in the NFL with Kansas City. Coach Jason Garrett told reporters at the Senior Bowl that a lack of turnovers were an issue for him, and it's assumed the head coach feels he's got the players capable of creating them.

The Cowboys' overall defense finished 14th in 2011 and fell to 19th in 2012. The run defense took a massive dive in 2012. The Cowboys finished 22nd against the run after they ranked seventh in 2011.

You could attribute this to the play of nose tackle Jay Ratliff, who finished third on the team with 18 quarterback pressures and tied for third with six tackles for loss. Ratliff played in only six games in 2012.

The pass defense, we thought, was upgraded by the signing of Brandon Carr in free agency and the drafting of Morris Claiborne at No. 6 overall. The Cowboys finished 19th overall, which is better than the previous season where it finished 23rd with Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins as the starters at cornerback. When you see the lack of turnovers created by a secondary that lost two players to injury, it raises concern about the schemes. Ryan had the corners play more zone, when Carr and Claiborne liked playing tight man coverage.

Ryan's defense was missing five starters because of injuries and had numerous backups seeing action that were signed in the last two months of the season. You could point to Ryan being without his starting and backup nose tackles -- Josh Brent (arrest) and Ratliff (health) -- as a reason for the struggles against the run during the last three weeks of the season.

DeMarcus Ware's health, played with bad elbow and shoulder, were other problems. But Jerry Jones said after the season injuries happen to every team and sometimes you have to overcome them.

Maybe Ryan needs to return as a position coach to re-evaluate his mistakes or how he runs his schemes. There were times we thought he was being too cute -- sometimes there were 12 men on the field; once there were nine. Ryan picked up a bad penalty in Cincinnati, too.

Ryan is a good coach. Maybe a year away from the game or taking on a lesser role with another team might help him in the future.

We left for the Senior Bowl on Monday in search of answers.

All we got from Dallas Cowboys officials was confusion.

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What we do know is that Jerry Jones has hinted that Jason Garrett won't call plays in 2013. Jones didn't say who would call plays, but all indications are that offensive line coach/offensive coordinator Bill Callahan will take over those duties.

It would appear to be a step back for Garrett, but Jones has tried spin the situation so that it doesn't look like a demotion for his head coach. Jones' preference to have a "walk-around" coach represents a change in thinking. It was just a few months ago that Jones shared a story of how former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said it was best for a head coach to call plays on either the offense or defense. That way, Gibbs said, it gives the appearance the coach had a hand in a victory or defeat.

Jones hired head coaches Chan Gailey, Wade Phillips and Garrett under this model. Now it seems he is switching gears. Jones points out that Garrett will still have a hand in the day-to-day operations of the football team. Well, that's fine and good, but he's always had that.

Garrett has two years remaining on his contract, and if this whole thing doesn't work out with him in 2013 it's clear he won't get another year to fix it. Jones clearly appears to be taking more power away from Garrett by the day.

Garrett, however, has still been involved in the interview process for offensive coaches. The Cowboys need a running backs coach and tight ends coach and most likely a wide receivers coach. Garrett conducted interviews at the Senior Bowl, ducking out after watching a few moments of practices to greet coaches.

Then, of course, there's the issue of Rob Ryan's dismissal. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram had a report that Garrett said the defensive coordinator was let go because his unit didn't create enough turnovers. The Dallas Morning News countered that Garrett's comments about Ryan were taken out of context.

A few weeks ago, Jones said on KRLD-FM that part of the reason he let Ryan go was because of losses at Seattle and against Chicago, games he felt the defense didn't do its part.

Wait, there's more.

Wide receivers coach Jimmy Robinson wasn't with the team in Mobile. Jones said Robinson is still on staff but that something might change with his status. What could that be? It might be a personal issue that allows Robinson to leave the day-to-day operations of working with Garrett. Nothing has been resolved here.

The other hot topic was Jay Ratliff's arrest early Tuesday morning for allegedly driving while intoxicated in Grapevine, Texas.

Jones talked with reporters at around noon Tuesday and was asked about a tiff he had with Ratliff and if that would have any bearing on his status with the team. Jones indicated it didn't and compared it to father and son having a typical argument.

Did Jones know about Ratliff's arrest when speaking with reporters in Mobile? We don't know. Saying he forgave Ratliff for a heated argument the two had during the season is one thing. Can Jones forgive Ratliff for getting arrested, too?

There are plenty of questions hanging around Valley Ranch. Hopefully in the next few days we can get some answers.

The Cowboys finalized the hiring of Rod Marinelli as defensive line coach Friday, beginning a trickle-down effect for the rest of the defensive coaching staff.

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With Marinelli on board to coach the defensive line, Brian Baker's time with the Cowboys appears to be over.

The defensive coaching staff will have some familiar faces in 2013, with Jerome Henderson (secondary) and Matt Eberflus (linebackers) returning to the coaching staff. If Rob Ryan becomes the defensive coordinator in St. Louis, it will be interesting to see if he tries to hire Eberflus. But the Cowboys might block any potential move by Eberflus.

The offensive coaching staff still needs some work. Skip Peete, the Cowboys' former running backs coach, has been hired in Chicago, and the Cowboys have yet to hire a replacement.

Former Arkansas and Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt interviewed with the Cowboys this week for an offensive position, maybe the running backs job or possibly the tight ends gig. Tim Spencer, who was released of his duties in Chicago this week, is a possibility. Anthony Lynn, a former Cowboys coach now with the New York Jets, has one year remaining on his contract. The Cowboys have tried to hire Lynn in the past, but the Jets have not allowed them to interview him.

John Garrett is still employed at Valley Ranch as the tight ends coach, but he applied for a head coaching job at Delaware and didn't get an interview. Dave Brock, an assistant coach at Rutgers, took the job Friday.

There are rumors Garrett might not return in 2013. If Garrett leaves, there's a chance Mike Tice, the former offensive coordinator in Chicago, could take the position.

The Cowboys also need to hire a special teams coach to replace Joe DeCamillis, who took that position in Chicago and was also named assistant head coach.

Steve Hoffman, a former Cowboys kicking coach, is free after his time in Kansas City ended in 2012. Rich Bisaccia, the San Diego Chargers' special teams coach the last two seasons, who also worked in Tampa Bay when Monte Kiffin was there, could be considered.

On Thursday, I wrote a post in which I said it was time for Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to start showing some level-headed leadership and explaining his offseason moves in a way that projected a coherent vision for the team and its future. Jean-Jacques Taylor of ESPNDallas.com seems to agree. Specifically, Jacques wants to know the reasoning behind replacing defensive coordinator Rob Ryan with Monte Kiffin and switching from a 3-4 alignment to a 4-3. It's possible, as we have discussed here, that this change is financially motivated, since the Cowboys have cap problems and may need to cut ties with players like Anthony Spencer and/or Jay Ratliff. That would be a fine explanation (though not one to which the Cowboys likely will admit). Jacques' just hopes the change wasn't made by an angry owner for change's sake:

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Cowboys defensive end Jason Hatcher joins Ben and Skin in studio to talk about his famous response to the leadership question the last time he was on the show, his development as a player, the transition to Monte Kiffin's Tampa 2 defense and much more. Listen

All we can hope is the Cowboys didn't make this shift in defensive philosophy because they wanted to get rid of Ryan and Kiffin is the only coordinator they wanted to hire who wouldn't threaten Garrett the first time the Cowboys lost a couple of games. Let's hope that didn't happen. Actually, drop to your knees and pray that's not what happened. Say what you will, Kiffin certainly isn't a threat to be the next Cowboys head coach at 72.

The dumbest decision the Cowboys could ever make would be to switch schemes just to fit a coach -- even one as good Kiffin. Don't laugh. Sadly, we never know these days how the Cowboys make decisions.

As I have said here many times, if you cheer for an unsuccessful team, what you look for is some kind of vision and leadership from the people who run it -- some kind of reassurance that there's a plan, that it's working (however slowly) and that there is thought and reason behind it. There will come a time when the Cowboys explain to their fans and customers why they have made the moves they made this offseason. Personally, I think changing defensive coordinators and schemes is a significant enough decision that it should have been explained by now.

My hunch is that it's the money thing, and that they'll end up losing Spencer and having to replace him with a cheap, unpredictable solution such as second-year pass-rusher Tyrone Crawford, who would be developing on the job. But it could also be that they've identified linebackers Sean Lee and Bruce Carter as their top defensive playmakers and want to accentuate them in the new alignment. That could potentially qualify as forward-thinking vision, driven by an honest assessment of their personnel and circumstances. But the truth is, we don't know. We are left to speculate. And if you're a Cowboys fan, you're left to hope this is all part of the plan and not some random change that's going to send things spiraling off in some whole new direction.

IRVING. Texas -- We have to find out why the Dallas Cowboys switched from the 3-4 defense to the 4-3 defense.

The sooner, the better.

Once the answer is revealed, we'll know if a sliver of hope remains for the NFL's most dysfunctional franchise or whether this franchise is doomed to be mired in the muck of mediocrity forever.

And it's a bigger question than just whether Jerry Jones or Jason Garrett made the decision.

Did the Cowboys switch to the 4-3 defense, which uses four defensive linemen and three linebackers, because they can't afford Anthony Spencer and this is a scheme that allows them to survive without him?

That said, it never seems like a good move to let your best defensive player walk without getting anything in return. For the record, Spencer led the Cowboys in tackles last season and finished second with 11 sacks, seven in the fourth quarter.

The reality is the linebacker who plays over the tight end in this scheme is not a guy who makes a lot of highlight reel plays. This scheme is designed for the weakside linebacker, who plays on the side opposite the tight end, and the middle linebacker to be playmakers.

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Cowboys defensive end Jason Hatcher joins Ben and Skin in studio to talk about his famous response to the leadership question the last time he was on the show, his development as a player, the transition to Monte Kiffin's Tampa 2 defense and much more. Listen

Let's use the Chicago Bears as an example. We know Lance Briggs is the Bears' weakside linebacker and Brian Urlacher is the middle linebacker, but what non-Chicago Bears fan knows the strongside linebacker without turning to Google for help?

Should we assume the Cowboys made this move simply because they no longer believed in Rob Ryan or the 3-4 defense, which uses three defensive linemen and four linebackers?

It seems odd the Cowboys would scrap the scheme after finally acquiring a quartet of linebackers that would easily rank among the best in the league. After all, the 3-4 defense is all about the linebackers.

The 4-3 defense is all about having a collection of play-making defensive linemen.

The only way this move makes sense is if we assume the Cowboys think Demarcus Ware can be the same play-maker at defensive end that he was at outside linebacker. And if they think Jason Hatcher can be a play-maker at defensive tackle and Jay Ratliff will thrive at defensive tackle instead of nose guard, where he's double-teamed every play.

None of that's a given.

Read the rest here.

There's a reason so many of the NFL's coaching vacancies got filled this week. Next week is Senior Bowl, and it's time to get down to serious business. Coaches from every team will head to Mobile, Ala., to begin an offseason of evaluations. Some of the new ones will hire assistants while there. It is time to move past the speculative phase of the NFL offseason and into the reality of staff and roster construction for 2013.

Which is why it's time for Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to stop with the "people are going to be uncomfortable around here" phase of his offseason. Jones has made his point. He's fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and running backs coach Skip Peete. He's seen special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis leave to take the same job with the Bears. He has made behind-the-scenes noise about bringing in an offensive playcaller to take some responsibility away from head coach Jason Garrett, and there have been reports that he's trying to get Garrett to fire his own brother, who's the team's tight ends coach.

This is all, in the context of mid-January, perfectly acceptable behavior. The Cowboys have been 8-8 for each of the past two seasons, and changing things on the coaching staff is a fine idea if the idea is to improve and do better in key areas next year and beyond. And if Jones' management style is to make people uncomfortable in order to deliver the message that the status quo is unacceptable, good for him. He wouldn't be the first.

But it's time for Jones to stop, because it's time for the Cowboys (like all of the other teams) to set themselves to the business of preparing for the 2013 season. And for that to happen as effectively as possible, the people in charge need to know there's a plan and a vision in place and that it's coherent and directed. If Jones wants to bring in a playcaller because he doesn't think Garrett can handle it (and he certainly has evidence to support this position), then he should do it. Don't just let everybody keep speculating about it. If Jones, who is the team's general manager as well as its owner, has an idea about the way the organization should be run, he should implement it, and once he did so, it wouldn't hurt to stand up in public and explain it to his fans and customers.

The way Jones is operating lends itself to speculation that crazy ol' Jerry is up to his crazy ol' impatient tricks again, making changes out of anger, or in an effort to project the kind of anger he thinks his team's disappointed fans want to see from him. It appears as though he's ignoring all of the positive feelings that developed around the team during its first 14 games and overreacting to the final two. If that's what he's doing, then he's reached the point in the offseason at which the responsible thing to do is to stop and let the people he's paying to run the team do their jobs without looking over their shoulders. If that's not what he's doing, then his job as a leader is to step forward and explain the rationale behind all of the commotion that has taken hold of the Cowboys in the past couple of weeks.

Jones has done what he said he would do -- make things uncomfortable around the Cowboys and communicate his belief that changes are necessary to break the team out of its 8-8 rut. Again, no problem with that. But for a couple of years now, Jones has insisted that he believes in Garrett and wants to put him in the best possible position to be a great NFL head coach. Allowing reports and speculation about a reduction in Garrett's power is not the way to do that. Jones risks weakening Garrett's stature among his coaches and his players. If he truly does believe in him, then he needs to start showing support again -- making it clear he's sticking with Garrett and his plan and vision, presenting the changes as necessary and having been made with Garrett's input. If he doesn't truly believe in him, well the time to do something about that was a couple of weeks ago, when everybody was firing coaches and he'd have had his pick of candidates.

For better or for worse, Garrett appears to be Jones' guy for 2013. At some point, whether it's still true or not, Jones likely will profess his faith that Garrett is the right man for the job. But if he keeps acting the way he's been acting for the past couple of weeks, that proclamation will sound more hollow than ever. Leaders get to a point where they have to trust in their people and trust in their plan. Jones is at that point now, and it's time for him to act that way.

IRVING, Texas – Since the firing of Rob Ryan and the hiring of Monte Kiffin last week, the Cowboys’ defensive players have had to reconcile the loss of a coach they enjoyed playing for with the arrival of a coach considered one of the best defensive coordinators in football.

Linebacker Sean Lee is right in the middle of that process.

“I owe so much to Rob because he made be a better football player,” Lee said. “I learned so much from him about all aspects of football, but it’s one of those deals that the Cowboys wanted to move in a different direction defensively and wanted to move from a 3-4 to a 4-3, and we brought in a great guy in Coach Kiffin to learn from.”

Lee has yet to meet Kiffin but is anxious to learn the 4-3 and the new responsibilities that will come his way. Kiffin will be Lee’s third defensive coordinator in four years, following Wade Phillips and Ryan.

“As soon as we can get in there and watch film and start learning the defense I think there are a lot of guys who want to get a jumpstart so they can come into the (organized team activities) feeling confident in trying to perfect this defense,” Lee said.

There will be a lot to learn with the Cowboys making the scheme shift under Kiffin with players like DeMarcus Ware, Lee, Bruce Carter, Jason Hatcher and possibly Jay Ratliff moving to different roles.

“I don’t think it’s as big a move as people think,” Lee said. “We’ve played 4-3 in different situations, even with Coach Phillips and the way the defensive line lined up. There were aspects of the 4-3 there. Now there’s obviously going to be a learning curve and it’s going to be tough and it’s going to take some work, but I think we have the guys that are athletic enough and versatile enough to be able to transition to this 4-3.”

The comparison that has been made to Lee in the switch to the 4-3 has been Chicago’s Brian Urlacher. It can be argued that Kiffin did not have a talent like Lee at middle linebacker during his time in Tampa Bay about to enter his prime.

“We’ll see what different variations are and how the defense is, but (Urlacher) is the guy who changed the way you play it and set the precedent for many years,” Lee said. “So that’s a great guy to look at but we’ll see what the defense is. Until I learn it I can’t say for sure what we’re doing, but Urlacher is a guy for sure in this defense that’s had a ton of success and a lot of people look to.”