"Anytime there's any type of dysfunction, turmoil, it starts from the top down," TO says. "It starts with him."

Of course, Owens has hated pretty much everything about the Cowboys since Jerry cut him after the 2008 season ... but when we got the Hall of Famer out at LAX this week, he made it clear he truly believes Jones is the issue in Big D.

So much so, Owens says it might be time Jerry steps away and hires a real general manager to take over!!

As for the head coach ... Owens is still advocating for Jason Garrett's firing -- hilariously telling us, "He should have been Edward Scissorhands'ed!"

Dallas has a (very small) chance to prove TO wrong these next few weeks ... if it's able to beat both Philly and Washington, it gets a home playoff game in January.