Cowboys owner Jerry Jones recovering from surgery to repair rotator cuff in right shoulder

Cowboys owner recovering from shoulder surgery

OXNARD, Calif. — Cowboys owner Jerry Jones shakes so many hands and signs so many autographs that he recently had an operation to repair damage to his right shoulder.

At least, that’s the way Jones likes to explain it.

The real story is that he hurt the shoulder playing football in ninth grade and never had it properly repaired. So on July 20, a few days before the start of training camp, Jones had an operation to finally take care of his rotator cuff.

Jones didn’t want to share the details, except to say “we did some serious work on cleaning stuff up in there.”

“It’s coming along, medically, and certainly it’s in good shape,” Jones said. “I kid a lot of the players and staff sometimes about their surgeries and ask them when they think they’re going to get out there full deal in a kidding way, now I don’t have the gall to come out here and look like I’m half-injured. … It’s a little hard when you are around football practice and see all the physical work that goes on, it’s pretty hard to complain and slow down over a hangnail.”

Jones, 67, kept the discussion about his injury as light as he could, joking this injury is what “limited me from being a great pitcher” and that “it’s nothing in any way that will limit my career on a going-forward basis.”

In other words, he’s still able to sign the checks, which is what players and fans care about most.