Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hit the radio on Friday and made some comments that certainly raised multiple eyebrows regarding the upcoming Monday Night Football showdown against the Los Angeles Chargers. 

Specifically, he was talking about a very familiar face to Cowboys Nation: Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.

After all, that's what the biggest storyline of this game will be, beyond the Cowboys' need to bounce back from such a tough loss versus the San Francisco 49ers. It's Moore against the man he was let go (oh, come on, they didn't "mutually part ways"): Mike McCarthy.

"I have dreaded seeing Kellen on this occasion," Jones candidly told 105.3 The Fan. "Kellen is one of my favorites as far as individuals but he's a talented coach, make no mistake about it."

That is certainly an interesting choice of words. To say you're dreading seeing a coach you controversially let go earlier this same year is somewhat odd. In a way, it puts Jerry himself on blast for parting ways with him in the first place. That McCarthy's offense is drawing national criticism makes it worse.

The praise for Moore didn't stop there.

"(He) has become an outstanding coach," Jones added before claiming McCarthy told the Cowboys he wanted Moore around when the head coach first got to Dallas. "Mike wanted Kellen Moore really much because of what he can bring to the table."

Clearly, that changed after the 2022 NFL season following another playoff loss to the Niners. Maybe, the Cowboys probably thought, with McCarthy, it'd be different. Oh well. That 42-10 scoreboard sure didn't make it seem so. 

So why did Dallas move on from the coach who's got the franchise owner nervous about Monday Night Football in Week 6?

"I had everything to do with that," Jones said. "Normally with Mike’s background, when he came in, normally he would have come in in charge of the offense and specifically, calling the plays. I normally would have done that. But we didn’t do it because we had Kellen and we we thought that was the best way to win games."

"You don’t call if you don’t install," Jones concluded about the decision-making behind the controversial move. "And so (now) Mike installs and he calls.”

Through five weeks of the season, Moore's offense in Los Angeles outranks McCarthy's Texas Coast in pretty much every category: Pass EPA/play, rush EPA/play, DVOA, and the same if you adjust for early downs.

On Monday, McCarthy will get a chance to outcoach his former coordinator. The oddsmakers expect a duel as the total is set at 50.5 for the night. It should be a fun one. 

Cowboys might be forced to take Rashaan Evans’ word for it in Week 6

The clock is ticking.