What does grace mean to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones?

In regards to social justice protests during the national anthem, it apparently means reaching a compromise with his players on how to contribute to the movement to denounce racism and police brutality against Black people but also respect the flag.

Jones, who has asked for grace in making a decision for the Cowboys, acknowledged that he is trying to come with something similar to what they did before a game against the Arizona Cardinals in 2017 when he knelt with the team before the anthem and stood with the team during the anthem.

“At the end of the day, as a recognition we support our players,” Jones said on his radio show on 105.3 The Fan Tuesday. “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 (I) thought that was good and that’s the kind of thing we’ll be looking to see if we can implement.”

The Cowboys have never had a player kneel during the anthem. Jones has prohibited them from doing with the threat of punishment, saying they must stand with toes on the line or not play.

Defensive tackle Dontari Poe has said he plans to kneel during the anthem. But he has yet to talk to Jones.

“Yeah I do still plan on kneeling but we haven’t had the conversation yet,” Poe said Sunday. “But we had a team meeting where he kinda expressed a couple of feelings and he always told us he had an open door for us to talk to him at any time, so I look forward to taking advantage of that and just getting in his ear and seeing how he’s feeling about it.”

Poe called out Jones last month for his previous silence on the anthem issue and the renewed social justice movements in the wake of George Floyd’s death by a white Minneapolis police officer.

He said he is not interested in doing a team-orchestrated demonstration.

Poe knelt during the anthem when he was with the Atlanta Falcons in 2017. He said he already has his mind made up, regardless of what the team decides.

“That really wasn’t a big topic in my portfolio,” Poe said of a group decision. “I was just pretty much saying something, saying I was going to do something that I felt was right for me. Not saying that anybody else is wrong for not doing it or whatever they’re cause is but I just felt like I just wanted to do it for me and what I want the statement I wanted to make.”

Jones says he supports the players. But he has not changed his stance on the anthem and he believes Cowboys fans have also stated they want the team to stand out of respect to the flag.

However, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has gone on record multiple times over the last few months that the league’s perspective on the social justice protests were wrong in the past and that he now supports the players right to kneel.

Jones, however, wants a compromise but no final decision has been made for the Cowboys.

“All of that will come to play and we’ll have a plan to recognize what he’s trying to do and the way he’s trying to do it, and everybody is going to be sensitive to it,” Jones said. “On the other hand, be sensitive to what it is we’re about. We’re out there to ask the fans to follow us and be attentive to us. And we’re well aware of the issue and well aware of where the Dallas Cowboys fans are on it. All of that will be put in the hopper and we’ll see how we handle it.”