Jerry Jones tried to act like he didn't hear my question.
I asked him very clearly, "What do you need to see from Jason Garrett for him to be your coach in 2020?"
The Hall of Famer first pretended he didn't hear the question.
"What did you say? I really didn't hear you. I really didn't hear you. There's a drill going on back over there," Jones said, chuckling, before adding, "Next question."
Jerry Jones has never blown off one of my questions at training camp. I think his answer spoke volumes: This is Jason Garrett's last stand.
Garrett is staring his ninth full season as the Cowboys head coach. His record over eight and half seasons is 77-59 during the regular season -- which has resulted in three NFC East titles.
Garrett has a losing record in the playoffs 2-3.
Jones wants him to improve off the Cowboys 10-6 2018 season and spoke of "advancing our place in the playoffs" if Garrett is to remain the head coach past 2019, the final year of his deal.
Later in the Cowboys state of the union address, Jones did circle back and seemingly throw his coach a lifeline.
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"There's no secret that the guy to my right here, I want to be the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for as long as I'm around to spell it," Jones said, pointing to Garrett. "That would be my goal, and that's no secret, and many of you have written about it in various ways. So let's see what's ahead."
I had a source in the Cowboys organization tell me that if the team is not playing in the NFC Championship game this season, Jones would make a hard push to hire Sean Payton away from New Orleans.
Payton was a former Cowboys assistant under Bill Parcells.
