FRISCO, Texas -- Jason Garrett has managed owner Jerry Jones better than any coach the Dallas Cowboys have ever had.

He must be even better at it during the next few weeks to prevent the owner from creating chaos where none exists.

That's because Jones keeps talking about hypothetical situations that would result in Tony Romo playing quarterback this season. Understand, nothing irritates coaches more than hypotheticals because they create no-win situations.

Maybe the owner is doing it because he feels guilty about benching the 10-year starter without Romo having an opportunity to compete for the starting job.

Perhaps Jones is just trying to keep the Cowboys in the headlines by mentioning what a great story it would be for Romo to help the Cowboys win a Super Bowl this season.

Whatever the motive, Jones isn't doing rookie starter Dak Prescott any favors by continually mentioning the possibility of Romo getting playing time this season.

Garrett shut that conversation down Monday, and he'll have to keep doing it because Jones seems incapable of letting the topic go.

Cowboys coach Jason Garrett has learned to tune out conflicting messages from owner Jerry Jones and focus on the task at hand. Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

"You can make it as simple or complex as you want to make it," Garrett said. "It's pretty simple for us: Dak is going to play quarterback as we go forward."

The best coaches that the Cowboys have had since Jones bought the team were always wrangling for control of the team with him.

The owner's weekly postgame interviews, sideline visits or comments regularly irritated Jimmy Johnson. Under Bill Parcells, Jones took a much lower profile because the coach wanted one voice speaking for the organization. Jones acquiesced, but there was always tension.

None exists between Garrett and Jones. That's because Garrett is the master at ignoring his owner's comments. When Garrett deems a comment Jones has made reckless or ridiculous, he refuses to legitimize it by discussing it.

Garrett will either speak around it, or he'll make a comment about how the Cowboys "don't really live in that world."

Most of the time Garrett says something along the lines of, "We're just focused on today and having the best walk-through we can have followed by the best meeting and the best practice, so we can be the best version of ourselves on Sundays."

When he takes that approach, Jones' comments stand alone. They never get any traction within the team, rendering them irrelevant.

Sure, Jones owns the team and his voice carries as much weight as it ever has, but he enjoys winning more than he likes having his ego stroked.

So he allows Garrett, club vice president and director of player personnel Stephen Jones, and scouting director Will McClay to join him in reaching a joint decision.

He doesn't always agree -- we all know Jones wanted to draft Johnny Manziel and not Zack Martin in 2014 -- but he'll go along with the consensus.

It's also the reason Garrett persuaded the owner to take offensive linemen -- Tyron Smith (2011), Travis Frederick (2013) and Martin -- with the team's first pick three times in four years. The Cowboys had never selected an offensive lineman in the first round since he bought the team in 1989.

Jones respects Garrett's football acumen, but at 73 the owner isn't changing. He's always going to have something potentially controversial to say.

And that's OK because Garrett has proved he's adept at making sure those words don't affect the team.