Cowboys notebook: Jerry Jones hopes to speak with Dontari Poe on national anthem; no fans for scrimmage

Jerry Jones said he wants to speak with defensive tackle Dontari Poe, who expressed a desire to kneel during the national anthem when the 2020 regular season begins.

Poe is fighting against racism and for social justice issues. Jones has said previously he doesn’t want his players to take a knee but is willing to listen.

In 2017, Cowboys players, along with Jones and members of his family, took a knee before the start of the national anthem before a game against Arizona. When the national anthem started to play, the Cowboys players stood up. This was a compromise between Jones and his players.

Something similar might happen in 2020.

“That’s speculation,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM]. “At the end of the day, as a recognition, we support our players. I knelt with our players, as you know, on a personal basis but as a team, we all knelt together before the anthem and then we stood for the anthem to recognize what it’s symbol is to America. And thought that was good and that’s the kind of thing we’ll be looking to see if we can implement.”

No fans for Sunday scrimmage: Jerry Jones said the Cowboys will not have fans attending Sunday’s scrimmage at AT&T Stadium. The Sunday night scrimmage is the first time the Cowboys will have any type of event at AT&T Stadium during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I was debating whether to have a lot of fans out there or not,” Jones said on KRLD. “And we felt we’d just save that for our opening day.” The Cowboys home opener is Sept. 20 vs. the Falcons.

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