Cowboys' gag order an insult to Phillips

Jerry Jones (left) to Wade Phillips: Let me do the talking.

And you thought the Patriots were the only NFL team that conducted business in a CIA-like manner. The Cowboys are taking it to another level. America's Team is becoming America's Quietest Circus.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has issued a gag order to head coach Wade Phillips and his assistants during the offseason. Upset that recent stories were inaccurate, Jones has forbidden any coaches to speak "independently" to reporters, the Dallas Morning News reported. As far as anyone knows, this is the first time a team owner told his head coach to hush up.

It sounds like Jones wants to corral the leaks in the organization and control the flow of information. But asking his head coach to enroll in the Duane Thomas school of media relations is a little drastic.

Jones has entrusted Phillips to coach the team but doesn't trust him to speak. It's OK for Terrell Owens to talk, though. This isn't a slap on the wrist for Phillips as much as a slap in the face.