Jerry Jones: Fans turning away from Cowboys over anthem protests is ‘huge issue’

The Dallas Cowboys kick off their regular season in just five days, and Jerry Jones has yet to explicitly say whether he will change his policy on national anthem protests.

During his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan Tuesday, Jones once again spoke about the importance of players being able to express themselves but doing it in a “sensitive” manner. He also said it would be a “huge issue” if Cowboys fans turned away from the team over national anthem protests.

“That is a huge issue — huge,” Jones said. “You know by just the nature of the way that I run the team how much I appreciate the interest that’s in the Dallas Cowboys. Now I know there’s interest just because they want to see us get beat, but still the big interest is there. I’m very sensitive to that. That’s exactly why I’ve said that I want our players to be very sensitive to just how important it is to the majority of our fans, more than any other team, the majority of our fans how sensitive they are recognizing what this great country is and what this flag stands for.”

Jones did, however, once again hint that he will allow players to kneel.

“I would expect the Cowboys to show great sensitivity and I hope fans will receive it — however each individual presents it — that it’s a genuine ask for help,” he said. “Because right now in our society, we got some things we need to address.”

Jones seemed to indicate recently that the Cowboys would do something during the national anthem other than kneeling, but some Dallas players have already said they will kneel.

Though he may loosen up, Jones has had a strict view on national anthem protests for several years. He told players at one point that they would not be playing for the Cowboys if they kneeled during the anthem, and we saw one player change his approach to anthem protests after being traded to Dallas last year.