Cowboys reiterate backing of Greg Hardy in wake of revealing photos

— -- ARLINGTON, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and coach Jason Garrett said they have no regrets about signing free-agent defensive end Greg Hardy to a one-year deal in March even after photos of the woman he allegedly abused have recently surfaced.

"Greg has a commitment to us. He has a commitment to do the right thing. We expect him to do the right thing," Jones said Sunday night after the Cowboys' 33-27 loss to the  Philadelphia Eagles.

"He has a commitment to his teammates and our team. The way it's set up in the NFL relative to behavior, if in fact we wanted to give Greg the second chance and you lose that in the NFL if you don't do the right things, so if he'll do the right things."

Hardy missed the first four games of the season, while serving a four-game suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy. He spent the final 15 games of the 2014 season on the commissioner's exempt list, which means he didn't play but did get paid.

On May 13, 2014, Hardy was arrested and charged with assaulting and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend, Nicole Holder.

A Mecklenburg (North Carolina) County judge found Hardy guilty in July 2014. The verdict was set aside when Hardy requested a jury trial.

All charges were dropped this past February because Holder refused to cooperate with the district attorney's office after receiving a financial settlement from Hardy.

Deadspin released photos of the injuries Holder allegedly sustained during the incident on Friday.

Jones said the release of the photos has not made him second-guess his decision. Jones said in a statement Friday that the Cowboys did not see the photos before they signed him.

"Again, we want to give him a second chance," Jones said, "and we certainly know that in many areas he's taking advantage of those assets that we have."

Garrett said on Sunday that Hardy knows the club's expectations for his behavior.

"We as an organization don't condone domestic violence. We take the issue very, very, very seriously," Garrett said. "We knew that when we signed Greg Hardy, there would be some criticism that came with that. We laid out expectations for him right from the start.

"We decided we were giving him a second chance, but in doing so, the expectations and the standards we set would be very clear to him and how he and, really, everybody else is supposed to conduct themselves on the football field and off the football field.

"Those expectations are very clear to him. We decided to give him a second chance. He's worked hard for our football team up to this point. He knows what the expectations and standards are; we're going to hold him accountable to those."

Garrett declined to answer three other questions about Hardy.