Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones gives baffling excuse for making rude gesture to fans

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was caught appearing to perform a rude gesture at fans during Sunday's game - but he insists all is not as it seemed. 

With a slew of injuries to their offensive line - and star receiver CeeDee Lamb ruled out as well - the Cowboys still managed to put up a ton of points as they beat the New York Jets 37-22 at MetLife Stadium. 

And the victory seemingly left Jones, 82, feeling bold as he appeared to show his middle finger to the crowd below his VIP suite. 

However, after a video of the moment went viral on social media, the octogenarian played the gesture down, claiming it was a mere 'unfortunate' mistake. 

'That was kind of an exchange with our fans out in front of us,' Jones claimed on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. 'There was a swarm of Cowboys fans out front. Not Jet fans, Cowboys fans. The entire stadium was brimming with the enthusiasm of Cowboys, certainly late in the game. 

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT 

'That was inadvertent on my part. It was right after we made our last touchdown. We were all excited about it, there wasn't antagonistic issue or anything like that. I put up the wrong show of hand. I'm not kidding. If you want to call it accidental, you can call it accidental. 

'It got straightened around pretty quick, but the intention was thumbs up and pointing at our fans because everyone was jumping up and down excited.' 

Despite Jones's pleas of innocence, it remains to be seen if the NFL will punish him for the action. The league once fined late Titans owner Bud Adams for a double middle finger display. 

The move was just the latest installment in Jones's controversial tenure as owner of the Cowboys. 

Most recently, he dominated headlines throughout the offseason over his contract standoff with Micah Parsons.

Jones stunned the NFL world by trading Parsons from Dallas to the Green Bay Packers in August.

After a long contract standoff between Parsons and the franchise, the pass-rusher was dealt to Green Bay in exchange for defensive tackle Kenny Clark and two-first round picks.

Parsons also agreed to a reported four-year, $188 million contract with his new franchise upon being traded there.

The Cowboys have fared alright without Parsons, as they improved to 2-2-1 on the season following their trouncing of the Jets.

Parsons, meanwhile, has 2.5 sacks thus far for the Packers, who have a 2-1-1 record after tying with the Cowboys last week.