Peyton Manning takes jab at Jerry Jones during CMA Music Awards monologue

As he opened the CMA Music Awards Wednesday night alongside Luke Bryan and Lainey Wilson, Peyton Manning took a jab at Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Wilson made a reference to Kelsea Ballerini’s album Cowboys Cry Too, which set Manning up for the punchline.

“This is the year we discovered that Cowboys Cry Too,” Wilson said, referencing Ballerini’s album released this year.

“But enough about Jerry Jones,” Manning quipped.

The joke got a roar of laughter from the crowd as the awards ceremony got started. Post Malone and Chris Stapleton kicked things off with their collaboration, “California Sober,” to set up the opening monologue.

The Cowboys have struggled mightily this season and are in the midst of a five-game losing streak after Monday night’s loss to the Houston Texans. Dallas will be without quarterback Dak Prescott the rest of the way due to a hamstring injury that required surgery. That means it will be either Cooper Rush or Trey Lance at quarterback, and Mike McCarthy announced Rush would be back under center this week against the Washington Commanders.

Despite the struggles, the Cowboys are maintaining their confidence. Star linebacker Micah Parsons said as much on his podcast this week, saying he doesn’t think the score of Monday night’s game reflected what Dallas is capable of being.

“I’m going to put this out there,” Parsons said. “We’re a damn good football team. I know the scores ain’t showing it and obviously, people feel like we have so many missing pieces… I just hate that the score don’t really show how good we actually are.”

Parsons’ co-host, Trevon Diggs, echoed a similar sentiment. He agreed with Parsons’ assessment of where the Cowboys stand ahead of Week 12.

“I agree,” Diggs said. “I think the work that we put in in the facility, it’s hard to overcome, and it’s hard to win the game with just defense and it’s hard to win the game with just offense. It’s got to be all three cylinders… Everybody got to be clicking. But I feel like we have a really good football team. I agree with you, we really do.”