FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said he was devastated when he got the news regarding the death of Marshawn Kneeland last week.
Jones said he was appreciative of other NFL teams having a moment of silence prior to their games as a tribute to Kneeland and have it potentially helping others dealing with mental health issues.
Kneeland, 24, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to authorities.
"I think we all have unfettered feelings about the people we love, people we work with, and this is just a time when you acknowledge that there's no answers," Jones said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday. "It makes you want to live life to the fullest. It makes you want to look for the very best in what we have for each other. And in some way make sense out of these times in terms of what they can mean from helping those that are here on earth right now.
"All of those things are very natural, come to mind, but his death is such a national awareness thing that it takes on some of that light when we think about how we go forward."
On Monday, the Cowboys returned to The Star for the first time after their bye on Sunday. With players out of town after Kneeland's death, the Cowboys held a virtual team meeting, but Monday marked the first time they were together in person and met as a team.
The Cowboys are scheduled to have a normal practice week starting Thursday as they prepare for Monday's game against the Las Vegas Raiders. For the rest of the season, players will have a special decal on their helmets. For at least for the next two games, they will wear special T-shirts in memory of Kneeland.
When the Cowboys play the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 23 at AT&T Stadium, there will be a moment of silence as well as other remembrances of Kneeland, a 2024 second-round pick out of Western Michigan.
"From the standpoint of the team and going back to work, there's no doubt in my mind they will do so in memory of what he's all about," Jones said. "He was very unique in his zest for life, and he was very unique for his passion for the game.
"Of course, the saddest thing for someone like me is the fact that he's only 24 years old. You think about all of the time that we're going to miss him and he's going to be missed by the people around him. He was just getting started."
