After Dallas Cowboys players rip staff, McCarthy says they should handle it ‘like men’
A day after Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy took personal responsibility for his team’s woes and said he wasn’t getting the job done, he found himself answering questions about an NFL Network report citing unnamed players saying they had “lost faith” in the coaching staff.
Players called the coaching staff “totally unprepared,” and said “they don’t teach” and don’t “have any sense of adjusting on the fly,” according to the report.
McCarthy, still reeling from Monday’s 38-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals that featured four turnovers and dropped the Cowboys to 2-4, didn’t run from the accusations but he would have preferred for his players to have “handled it like men.”
“I think you do have to recognize it,’‘ said McCarthy after being asked about the report. “I really go back to my first meeting with the football team. I’ve always stated to every team I’ve coached, I think it’s important to handle things as men. If you do have something to say publicly, I think it’s important to say to the individual, particularly in a group setting. It’s something I stated in our first meeting, let’s just handle these things as men. ‘Let’s talk to one another. [I told them] ‘I’m your guy.’
“I’ll talk to anybody, in particular, in our inner circle,” he said. “And I’ll either agree or disagree with you. And I think that’s important. At the end of the day it’s about winning. We’re in the business of putting players in a position to win.”
McCarthy then addressed the issue with his players during a team meeting before practice on Wednesday.
“The anonymous is something I think we all don’t want to recognize,” McCarthy said. “But any time, especially this year of all years, being our first year together, I think it is important to recognize anything and everything for a teachable moment. So any time I have a chance to teach and make it clear what our expectation is, always moving that needle toward winning, that’s my approach.”
A veteran player agreed with McCarthy when asked about the report. He said the Cowboys have a lot of egos on the roster and it’s hard to fix things with players airing grievances about the coaching staff.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott echoed the same sentiments.
“We need to keep that type of stuff in house,” Elliott said. “Everyone in this building needs to take a look in the mirror and figure out what they could be doing to help this team win. Everyone look in the mirror and fix that and we will all be better.”
There are many things to fix. The team is still reeling from the loss of quarterback Dak Prescott, who’s out for the remainder of the season with an ankle injury. The team has a turnover differential of minus-12, and that’s the worst in the NFL. The team’s defense is struggling mightily; they are 31st in the league against the run and 32nd in the league in points allowed.
The problems on defense stem from a lack of progress under first-year coordinator Mike Nolan and his new scheme after a shortened offseason amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a change. It’s well documented,” McCarthy said. “It’s a conversation we’ve openly had, the changes from our system to the last system here and it’s a philosophy change that I brought here. This is something that we wanted to do defensively wise and frankly we’re in the infant stages of it.”
McCarthy said the Cowboys have not improved in any area this season, which has caused him some sleepless nights.
But he remains confident they can get things turned around. And he promises that the staff will continue to coach the players hard.
“We need to coach better,” McCarthy said. “Our job responsibility is simple. It’s to teach and demand. The players understand that their job responsibility is simple also. Their job is to prepare and to perform. We are not there right now. That is ultimately my responsibility. So we will continue to teach and demand.”
McCarthy doesn’t plan any drastic moves to get the players’ attention. And he’s focused on developing a game plan for a victory in Washington on Sunday.
Offensive line challenges
McCarthy and the Cowboys will do so with another challenge to the offensive line as left tackle Brandon Knight is out for at least a couple of weeks after suffering a knee injury against the Cardinals Monday that required surgery.
Knight was only starting because Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith is out for the season with a neck injury. The Cowboys are also starting a backup at right tackle in Terence Steele, who is replacing La’el Collins after he was lost for the season with a hip injury.
With right guard Zack Martin in concussion protocol, the Cowboys are facing limited options up front against Washington. If Martin can’t go, they will play Connor McGovern at right guard. If Martin can go, they could play McGovern at left guard and move left guard Connor Williams to left tackle.
The Cowboys would prefer to start veteran backup Cam Erving at left tackle. He practiced for the first time Wednesday after missing the past five games with a knee injury he sustained in the season opener.
This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 10:18 PM.
