Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson, left, was smiling before the game while greeting Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman.

On Thanksgiving, the brief pregame meeting between the Cowboys owner and his former coach was a public, seemingly obligatory gesture more than five years after a bitter and more public separation.

"It was brief and very civil. It was not in any way forced," Jones said after his Cowboys beat Johnson and the Miami Dolphins 20-0. "It was not unpleasant at all. Even if we had parted under the absolute best of circumstances, we should have said no more."

They met for less than a half-minute about 40 minutes prior to kickoff, shaking hands and chatting briefly before returning to their respective corners. There was no further contact after the game and Jones got the last word.

Johnson was coaching in Texas Stadium for the first time since the 1993 season when the Cowboys won a second straight Super Bowl title. Just two months after the championship, Johnson and Jones separated.

"It worked out, that's really the way I have to look at it," Jones said of the three-decade relationship among the former Arkansas teammates. "Our success was beyond our imagination. We basically were able to go from our first year when we won one game and it wasn't working out to basically able that when he left in the fifth year we had two Super Bowls."

Jones called the Super Bowl titles "a great culmination" of their work together.

Johnson refused to discuss Jones during his postgame news conference.

"It felt different during pregame warmups," Johnson said just before kickoff. "Now that we are into the game, it doesn't feel different than any other ballgame."

Jones and Johnson publicly downplayed the coach's first game back in Texas Stadium. But the stubborn, competitive spirit that led to their public divorce certainly made the game mean more than they let on.

Johnson stepped back onto the field at Texas Stadium just more than an hour before kickoff, his trademark stone face and well-coiffed hair in place. He was met with a mixture of cheers and boos from the half-full stadium.

The visible mode of the coach changed quickly when he spotted Stephen Jones, the son of his former boss. Johnson jogged to him, smiled and enthusiastically shook his hand.

Long before Jerry Jones made his way to the field, several Cowboys coaches and other officials sought out and spoke with the coach. Among them were special teams coach Joe Avezzano and defensive coordinator Dave Campo, who also served under Johnson.

Johnson even had a lengthy conversation at midfield with Cowboys coach Chan Gailey.

Emmitt Smith was the first Cowboys player to seek out Johnson. The two embraced and walked arm-in-arm for several minutes while talking. Troy Aikman then had a more businesslike meeting, shaking hands with his former coach and then standing there briefly with his hands on his hips.

"It was great to see him. Jimmy did a great job when he was here, we won two Super Bowls and I respect him for that," Aikman said. "Every week, you are going to play against people that you have feeling for and have had relationships with."

The game came six years to the date after Johnson's last loss as the Cowboys coach, 16-14 to the Dolphins on Thanksgiving in the snow when Leon Lett revived a dead ball after a blocked punt to give Miami a second chance at a winning field goal.