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Jerry Jones: Cowboys' red-zone issues 'not a long-range concern'

Christian Petersen / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believes it's only a matter of time until his team fixes its red-zone issues.

"The thing we need to zero in on is when we get that ball down in there close, we've got to get touchdowns," Jones said Wednesday, according to Kevin Patra of NFL.com. "And that's probably across the board over these last three ball games. We got a long time to go in this season. We got a lot of room to really adjust and correct these things. While it is something to note, it's not a long-range concern."

The Cowboys have scored a touchdown in just 40% of their red-zone trips so far this season, which ties for the fourth-lowest mark in the NFL.

Dallas went 3-for-4 in the red zone in their 40-0 victory over the New York Giants in Week 4. The team, however, has since struggled in those situations, going 2-for-6 in a Week 2 win versus the New York Jets and 1-for-5 in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3.

The Cowboys made big offensive changes during the offseason, parting ways with offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and running back Ezekiel Elliott, among other moves. Elliott averaged just 3.8 yards per carry with Dallas in 2022 - a career single-season low for him - but finished the campaign with 12 rushing touchdowns, all of which came inside the opponent's 15-yard line.

"Zeke's unique physicalness is always nice to have, not to be trite about it, it's very good to have," Jones said. "We think of physical on short yardage and probably should, but I don't think that physicalness from the running back is contributing to us not getting the end zone. It is not."

Elliott, now a member of the New England Patriots, will visit the Cowboys in Week 4.

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