Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has had a frustrating season to say the least. Aside from a disappointing 5-5 start, his star wide receiver Michael Irvin has been sidelined with a spinal injury, his running back Emmitt Smith suffered a broken hand, and cornerback Deion Sanders has battled hamstring and groin injuires all season, and also appears to be eying baseball again. But perhaps most important, his franchise quarterback Troy Aikman is recovering from yet another concussion.

	Jerry Jones is less than enthusiastic about his team's 5-5 start.

"I expect Troy to be playing for many years to come and he's at a period of time in his career where he gives us a real chance to get to another Super Bowl," says Jones.

Jones, in a recent interview with Gary Miller on ESPN's Up Close, also discussed the future of the Cowboys, and his upcoming Thanksgiving showdown with former Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson, now head coach of the Dolphins.

The following is an edited transcript of the interview.

Miller: How do you feel about the Cowboys being 5-5 ten games into the season?

Jones: I think we've got an opportunity to get some of our important players back on the field as we look to the last six games of the season. Sure, we've had some disappointing losses and we've been disappointed that we couldn't score more. On the other hand we are really having some young players that are really stepping up and getting a lot of playing time. I think that will pay off for us over the next six games. Another thing is, we expect (Troy) Aikman back at some time over the next few games (the Cowboys announced later Monday that he would start vs. The Dolphins on Thanksgiving). Emmitt Smith is playing as well as we have ever had him play here. Our offensive line is really performing well and the production that we are getting from our front seven is really good.

Miller: Jerry, how much have you had to face the real possibility that Troy could say "I've had it" sometime soon. Steve Young is at this career crossroads and Troy has had eight concussions now; how much have you had to face the reality that if he comes back from this and gets another one, that's it?

Jones: Well, in general, this game is a very physical game, and that's part of it, and we face that reality any time we make decisions about the future of this franchise as it relates to a player. The franchise quarterback is arguably the biggest one you make, but we do it on other players as well. It's one of the things about the game, we all know injury is a part of it. As for Troy, he has said that one of the good things that has come from his evaluations over the last two and three weeks, is that there has been no ongoing or lasting effect from the concussions that he has had in the past. And as Troy has said, and I'm making those kinds of plans, I expect Troy to be playing for many years to come and he's at a period of time in his career where he gives us a real chance to get to another Super Bowl.

Miller: Well, another guy you have to make that decision over is Michael Irvin; you have had some serious sit-downs with him, do you expect him to return this year or ever?

Jones: Well, we were quite surprised when it was discovered that Michael had a narrow spinal canal genetically, and of course he has had a football career that for all practical purposes spans twenty years. But he has had the issue that could compromise him since he has had the injury that he has had. On the other hand football is his life, he certainly is in agony as he sits here and watches this team try to work its way towards the playoffs and he is not getting to be a part of it. I do expect the decision as to whether he will play this year or not within the next ten days. As far as his career is concerned, he may delay that until after the season.

Miller: What is it going to be like to play Jimmy Johnson in Dallas when he returns for the first time as head coach of the Miami Dolphins?

Jones: Well, first of all, I'd rather someone else be over on that sideline than Jimmy Johnson across the way because of the respect I have for him. When I bought the Dallas Cowboys in 1989 it was the most serious and extensive thing that I'd ever done, and I wanted to find the very best that I could find to come in and coach the team. Now a lot of people were critical of that because they said, "nobody there has any pro experience, Johnson has never done it, Jones has never done it, yet they're the ones running the show". It worked so great for us for five years, and we had things happen to us that were even better than we thought could happen to us. That is the way that I feel about it when I look back; we've known each other thirty years and those were the most intense times when we were working together for five years. It worked real well, and when you look at the little bumps along the way, they are so minimized by the great success that we've had. I do consider us to be friends, and when we see each other, usually in the off-season we are as cordial as two former teammates are that got to play on a national championship team together in college.

Miller: What will the exchange be like when you and Jimmy meet on the field?

Jones: Well, I think certainly it will be cordial. When we played in Miami, it was that way when he returned to the field with the Miami Dolphins. It will be again Thursday, we've got a lot of great memories of Thanksgiving Day out there, a lot of heartaches of Thanksgiving Day as well. But having said that, he'll be down to business, we'll be down to business, we need this win real bad. He knows it and that is what we'll have our minds on; we have got a lot of time in our lives to look back on the good times that we had together for five years here with the Cowboys.

Miller: How different is it to have a Chan Gailey after having Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer, because Chan isn't as big of a personality or as up front as those two guys; how different is that for you as the owner and GM of this team?

Jones: Well, I think Chan Gailey is more involved than just the technical aspects. Jimmy and Barry oversaw the defense, offense, and the special teams. Not that Chan doesn't have great input into what we are doing defensively or special teams, but he is really focused, the way we're structured, on offense. He's structured on the game plan, calling the plays, as well as putting the overall offense in and building it. Anybody that understands football knows that the busiest man in the organization is your offensive coordinator, and so he has a tremendous work ethic. I'm not saying that Jimmy or Barry didn't, but that is one of Chan's greatest qualities. The other two reasons is I had to go to someone that I didn't know that well in Chan Gailey. I ran out of friends and ran out of teammates; it was a little hard for me to choose a college coach, because I played with Jimmy, and of course Barry Switzer was our freshman coach, both for Jimmy and me, when we were at the University of Arkansas.

Miller: Jimmy left one year after former offensive coordinator Norv Turner became head coach of the Washington Redskins. Would you say Norv was the next in line if things had not gone the way they had, timing-wise?

Jones: I think that's fair to say because of the respect that I have for Norv, and the success that we had, the synergy that we had with him as a coach here. But the ironic thing is that I tried very hard, or helped very much to get Norv acquainted with the people in Washington. Now I didn't appreciate it after he got up there, I think he won the next three games that we played, or maybe even the next four, but I have a lot of respect for Norv Turner and he did a great job for us.

Miller: How do you feel about the new owner in Washington, Daniel Snyder, saying that Turner has to win right away or he's gone; how do you feel about the way he is being treated, and if he is out would he still be a candidate for the Dallas Cowboys in the future?

Jones: Well I don't know the specifics of what Dan is dealing with there in Washington, but I can say this in Dan Snyder's defense; he certainly has made a big commitment, and that will make you nervous. I know in 1989 when I bought the Cowboys we were losing a lot of games, we were losing a lot of money, it was hard times, and that will get you more involved. You don't have red blood in your veins if you can't get involved with that. I think more and more as we see people invest hundreds of millions of dollars and know that they could probably get a much better return doing something else with the money, that you are going to see them more involved. I think the sports world will understand that that can be good, it does not have to be bad. I would hope that some of the things that we have done over the last eleven years in Dallas by someone that has made a big commitment, that someone that wouldn't be here if they didn't love the NFL, love football. I hope that that has made a positive difference and I see Dan Snyder in that way. I like him.

Miller: Coach Tom Landry is hospitalized now with Leukemia and hopefully he will get better, but whenever they write about him, he is the coach that Jerry Jones fired. How do you feel about that and the situation that he is in now?

Jones: Well I regret that byline, but I wouldn't have bought the Dallas Cowboys had I not had the respect for Coach Landry that I did. We shouldn't have announced my purchase at the same time we announced that he was leaving, that was a mistake, but it shouldn't in any way take away from his legacy, 29 years, it won't be matched as far as a coach and what he contributed to this franchise.

Miller: Deion Sanders, when he plays has been very effective, but he hasn't committed to playing next year and he has talked about playing baseball again. How do you feel about that?

Jones: Well, first of all, we've got our mind on this season and the remainder of this season. I think he's going to be playing better because he's feeling better, he has been suffering through a groin and hamstring pull, his toe seems to be fine. The way we're structured is that all bets are off as far as the coming season is concerned, certainly baseball is a possibility and always has been with Deion. Hopefully we can get something worked out because I do want him to finish his career with the Cowboys.