Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones insisted last week that previous controversial comments offered by star pass-rusher Micah Parsons were “not meant as a critique of” head coach Mike McCarthy.
Following Dallas’ disheartening 34-10 loss to the Houston Texans that dropped the Cowboys to 3-7 on Monday night, Jones shared that he believes players are still fighting for McCarthy amid what seems to be a lost season for everybody involved.
“That losing the team stuff, that’s so overblown,” Jones explained, according to Todd Archer of ESPN. “These guys are so, first of all, they’re natural competitors. Secondly, they’re so proud of the fact that they are professional and disappointed in maybe the way they executed the play, but that’s not anything that’s brother or first cousin to give up.”
Whether or not Parsons meant to take a shot when he suggested he wasn’t all that worried about McCarthy’s future probably won’t matter in the long run. McCarthy remains in the final season of a contract that Jones isn’t extending before Week 18 concludes. There’s little sign the Cowboys have a run in them with starting quarterback Dak Prescott sidelined due to a season-ending hamstring injury. Numerous stories began linking Dallas with potential replacements for McCarthy such as former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel long before Monday’s game got underway.
Jones may have to worry about the Cleveland Browns soon giving Vrabel an audition, but there’s little anybody within the Cowboys can do about that ahead of Thanksgiving. Per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk, Jones reiterated after Monday’s blowout defeat that he will not replace McCarthy with an interim head coach for the remainder of the campaign.
“Everybody’s certainly disappointed,” Jones added about the Cowboys’ record, “but that’s a big difference in not knowing that you got to put the foot in front of the other to go.”
Dallas next plays at the rival Washington Commanders (7-4) on Sunday before the Cowboys host the lowly New York Giants (2-8) for a Thanksgiving Day game some casual fans may skip. As of Tuesday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Cowboys as massive 10.5-point underdogs against the Commanders.
