Jerry Jones calls ref 'little darling' for abusive language flag on Garrett
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones referred to the official who flagged head coach Jason Garrett for abusive language Sunday as a "little darling" after the game.
"Oh, I hope the little darling didn't hear something he hadn't heard before," Jones said, according to ESPN's Todd Archer. "We should all stop the wheel over that if he got (penalized for) abusive language."
Garrett drew the 15-yard punishment after angrily throwing his red challenge flag in front of the referee to contest a pass interference call. The side judge, Scott Edwards, responded with an emphatic toss of the yellow penalty flag.
Video of Jason Garrett VERY ANGRY at the ref for blowing the call. This is the NFL's "technical foul" i guesspic.twitter.com/hfaFPDGAoG
— Jason McIntyre (@jasonrmcintyre) October 6, 2019
"All I can tell you is there was abusive language toward an official," referee Ron Torbert explained postgame, according to David Helman of DallasCowboys.com. "That's all I'm prepared to tell you."
Garrett assumed responsibility for the penalty after his team fell 34-24 to the Green Bay Packers, dropping the Cowboys to 3-2 on the season.
"Obviously, I didn't handle that situation as well as I should have," he said, according to Archer. "I knew we were going to get the play because I saw it and unfortunately we had to use that flag there. And he made the decision to throw a flag on me."