Cowboys' Jerry Jones not giving up on Jay Ratliff

• Jerry Jones said Jay Ratliff could return to the Cowboys in the postseason.
• Jones said he won't place Ratliff on injured reserve.
• Jones described his confrontation with Ratliff as heated but overblown.

IRVING, Texas -- Jerry Jones still won't count Jay Ratliff out for the season.

Not now, not after the Dallas Cowboys nose tackle underwent surgery for a sports hernia on Thursday -- 11 days after Ratliff and Jones had a heated locker room exchange that began when the team owner mentioned how the team needed the injured former Pro Bowl selection to return.

Jones told USA TODAY Sports that he can still envision Ratliff getting back on the field this season -- if the Cowboys can make a deep playoff run.

"We obviously need Jay," Jones told USA TODAY Sports. "Hopefully this surgery could get him back on the field, if we have an extended season. That's the way I'm looking at it."

Jones said he won't put Ratliff on the season-ending injured reserve list because the estimates for a full recovery ranges from three-to-six weeks. The Cowboys (7-6) head into Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers with various scenarios in the works for possibly making the playoffs, provided they win.

It is unclear how Ratliff, who has zero sacks this season, would react to Jones' suggestion that he could play in the postseason. Jones maintains that it's a matter of physical health rather than desire.

"If he can, he would," Jones said. "We know what a competitor he is."

Jones said it was passion -- by both Ratliff and himself -- that fueled their exchange following the Cowboys' victory against the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 2. The incident was revealed this week by 105.3 The Fan in Dallas.

Ratliff, who has missed seven games this season due to injuries, didn't play against the Eagles but blew up after being approached by Jones.

"It was a little heated," Jones said. "We went back and forth."

Jones, who routinely talks to players in the locker room, realizes that he struck a nerve with Ratliff by urging him to return after seeing the Eagles shred Dallas' run defense.

"We hadn't played well against the run, but won the game," Jones recalled. "They'd gone through us like (expletive) through a goose."

Jones maintains the incident was overblown and has not lingered. He said it will have no bearing on Ratliff's future with the team.

"It's the most absurd thing to talk about," Jones said, mindful of the the tragedy that struck the Cowboys last week with the death of practice squad linebacker Jerry Brown.

Brown was the passenger in the alcohol-related, one-car accident in a vehicle driven by defensive tackle Josh Brent, who is facing intoxication manslaughter charges.

"One of the biggest hugs I got at the memorial service was from Jay Ratliff," Jones said.

The incident with Ratliff wasn't the first time that Jones was the target for choice words from a player. In 1993, linebacker Charles Haley -- who now serves as a quasi-consultant for the Cowboys -- came close to connecting with Jones as he slammed a helmet into a locker room wall and urged the man standing by the wall to sign holdout running back Emmitt Smith.

Haley's outburst came after a Week 2 loss to the Buffalo Bills that left the defending Super Bowl champs at 0-2.

How close was that helmet?

"A foot-and-a-half away," Jones said. "I saw the helmet coming. He was hot. Everybody was mad."

Smith was signed that week, and the Cowboys won another Super Bowl.

"No hard feelings," Jones said. "We had that situation, and I just put Charles in the Ring of Honor."