Cowboys' Stephen Jones disagrees with father on schedule

One day after Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones revived the idea of an 18-game NFL regular season and a shorter preseason, Stephen Jones expressed disagreement with his father on Wednesday.

Stephen Jones, the team's executive vice president and a member of the league's competition committee, said he isn't sure that reducing the number of preseason games would be good for the development of younger players who might be unlikely to make a regular-season roster.

"Here's my problem: At the end of the day, it's so important for these young players to play the game and play on a big stage and play in stadiums," Stephen Jones told reporters.

"I know sometimes the fans may not love it as much, and that's Jerry's point," he continued. "But that's part of the fun of the game is watching these young guys come up and play. ... I just think we need these games to develop these football players."

Jerry Jones said in an interview with the Dallas Morning News on Tuesday that an 18-game regular season could be better for players' health.

"I can make the case that we have an uptick in concussions in the preseason,'' he said. "If you look at it, I would contend there would be less exposure.''

In a follow-up conversation Tuesday with 105.3 FM in Dallas, Jerry Jones said 18 games would be better physically for players and even "safer."

The owner contended that the addition of two regular-season games could bring $1 billion in player revenue, potentially a difference of $589,000 when spread across every player on each team's 53-man roster.

However, the NFL's collective bargaining agreement runs through 2020, and commissioner Roger Goodell said as recently as February there was no plan to change the format of the regular season. The NFLPA also resisted suggestions for a longer regular season during the last round of contract negotiations.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)