Handling of Jay Ratliff's Injury Proves Dallas Cowboys Out of Control

The Dallas Cowboys are the epitome of the Twitter hashtag #smh which stands for “shaking my head.” This organization does things that just make you have that bewildered look on your face before you shake your head in disgust. The Cowboys’ latest decision regarding a star player’s injury is absolutely moronic, and we’re not even talking about Dez Bryant.

On Thursday, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the team will not put Pro Bowl nose tackle Jay Ratliff on Injured Reserve in hopes that he can return for the latter part of the playoffs. There are so many idiotic elements to that last sentence I don’t even know where to begin.

I guess we’ll start with Ratliff’s injury itself: The 6-foot-4, 303-lb. monster defensive lineman had sports hernia surgery on Thursday morning, which will require at three to six weeks of recovery time. That means that if everything goes absolutely perfect and his body heals faster than expected, Ratliff might be able to return for the divisional round of the NFC playoffs and that’s assuming the Cowboys get that far. Heck, that’s assuming they even qualify for the postseason!

Even if Dallas somehow stumbles into the playoffs, they won’t be contending for the conference title, much less the Super Bowl. So why in the world would Jones risk Ratliff’s long-term health for one possible playoff appearance? That’s not a smart move for his football team, which is why the Cowboys haven’t done diddly squat since the Jimmy Johnson squad deteriorated after Jones ran him out of town.

All of this assuming is even more ridiculous considering the final three games left on Dallas’ schedule: The Cowboys host the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints before hitting the road to face the Washington Redskins in the season finale. Dallas has to win all three of those games to even have a chance at making the playoffs. If you think that’s going to happen, our Texas term for Jones applies to you as well: “You ain’t got no sense.”

Jones has a lot of money tied up in Ratliff through the 2016 season, $25 million over those four years to be exact. If he suffers some serious and/or permanent damage to his body from being rushed back onto the field for a playoff appearance that won’t happen, Jones won’t be able to leave his house in Highland Park without a police escort. He’s already in hot water over Bryant’s injury situation, so a double whammy of delayed recoveries by these players for no reason won’t end well for Jerry. #smh indeed…

Jeric Griffin is the Director of Content for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JericGriffin or “Like” him on Facebook.