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Cowboys: Jason Garrett won't be fired midseason, Jerry Jones says

ARLINGTON, Texas — Jerry Jones has no plan to fire Jason Garrett midseason. The Dallas Cowboys owner didn’t spend his Thanksgiving lambasting his coaching staff or playing bad cop as he did earlier in the week. Instead, the Cowboys owner said after Dallas’ 26-15 loss to Buffalo : Jones is all in on chasing the Cowboys’ best chance of a Super Bowl run — this year. He believes Garrett gives him the best chance. “I wouldn’t make a change and give us a chance to do what I want to dream about doing — I wouldn’t do that for love or money,” Jones told reporters in more than 20 minutes of comments outside an emotional Cowboys locker room. “It would give us zero chance if we didn’t have him.” He knows it sounds crazy. Why, reporters asked, does he believe a team that hasn’t defeated an opponent with a winning record could contend for a Super Bowl? Why, after his harsh comments blaming coaches for Sunday’s 13-9 loss to the Patriots , is Jones now standing behind Garrett? “I would normally say, ‘You’re really smoking something,’” Jones said, acknowledging the craze. “I normally would say that. But I know the room. I see the room. … I believe in this group.” Jones had issued a challenge to his team after saying the Patriots thoroughly out-coached them and it was “glaring” why Dallas lost 13-9 in New England. The Cowboys followed up that rebuke with a double-digit Thanksgiving loss to the Bills featuring an interception, a fumble, a blocked field goal and a wide open Buffalo trick play . Still, Jones isn’t firing his coach of 10 years. “I’m going to do the same thing I’ve always done when I get a setback or get my butt kicked,” Jones said. “I’m going to get up in the morning and I’m going to look for ways [to help], and I’m not going to panic. I’m going to look for ways to improve the situation. ... One of them is not a coaching change. “I’m just not going to make a coaching change.” Garrett is coaching on the final year of his contract. But players refused to let Garrett and their coaches shoulder the blame. “This is a man’s game,” defense end DeMarcus Lawrence said. "And we did self-inflicted wounds.” He said he didn’t believe the coaching staff did anything to hurt its players. Members across offense agreed. Quarterback Dak Prescott listed the ways Garrett sends his team into each game prepared and enables them to stay steady despite the bright spotlight that comes with playing for the Cowboys. Wide receiver Amari Cooper asserted that “we couldn’t get it done today as players.” Running back Ezekiel Elliott’s vote of confidence for his coach: “Of course. I don’t know why we wouldn’t (support him). I’m not going to even entertain that.” Nor would Jones. The owner and general manager’s message instead to his Cowboys team after their sixth loss this season was that if the still-NFC East leaders win out, they could “end up doing something that people will write about 30 years from now,” Jones said. Sure, he understands it's improbable. But looking back at the 30 years since he bought the Cowboys, Jones believes he’s taken bigger risks in his management of the world’s most valuable sports franchise . And yes, he’s hoping he can speak a turnaround into existence. “Do you believe in redemption?” Jones asked, in a moment of his lengthy sermon. “Do you believe in redemption? I am a redemption man, too. So I think that you can change to some degree who you are. It may be in there bothering you and it may bring the cold sweats out on you when you’re having to fight it. “But I’ve seen people thwart their demons and still have productivity. And you’re looking at one.” And if he’s totally off-base? He’d rather go down trying. “I like that story tonight as I eat my turkey better than having to choke with it going down,” Jones said. Follow USA TODAY Sports' Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein . If you love talking football, we have the perfect spot for you . Join our Facebook Group, The Ruling Off the Field , to engage in friendly debate and conversation with fellow football fans and our NFL insiders.