The Cowboys have a pair of prominent former Patriots players, and Jerry Jones believes this former New England player would be key to Dallas’ success.

Dallas is coming off an embarrassing loss to the lowly Arizona Cardinals and has an ideal get-right spot against a Patriots team lacking explosiveness on offense.

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The Cowboys have a bottom-five red zone offense, converting 40% of their trips into touchdowns. That’s a contrast to one of the best red zone offenses last season, and Jones highlighted an offseason signing as a way to get the offense going.

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“Brandin Cooks is the real deal. He has speed,” Jones said on “105.3 The Fan” on Friday, per The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “We’ve got to use him. And we are going to. He’s going to make it better for (CeeDee) Lamb. He’s gonna make it better for the tight ends. He’s gonna be a difference-maker for us.”

Cooks missed Week 2 against the New York Jets due to a knee injury, and in his return game, he caught two passes for 17 yards off seven targets. There might be more opportunity this Sunday if rookie Christian Gonzalez draws the CeeDee Lamb assignment.

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