‘Let’s quit candy coating it.’ Mike McCarthy reacts to another ugly Dallas Cowboys loss
Mike McCarthy had the aura of a head coach about to go scorched earth after another dumbfounding Dallas Cowboys’ loss.
McCarthy, seemingly tiring of his own consistent refrain after a Cowboys’ performance (even after the two wins), cut himself mid-answer in the middle of his post-game press conference after a 25-3 loss to the Washington Football Team at FedEx Field.
He was asked whether his team is struggling, in part, because his players have lost trust in one another. He didn’t deny it, and was in the process of explaining the process of a first-year coach and his staff when he decided to cut through the coach-speak.
“Let’s quit candy coating it. I can’t stand up here and keep talking about taking care of the football, taking the ball away and just the fundamentals,” he said. “Whether we haven’t had enough time together or whatever the case is, at the end of the day, the schedule is set and we need to continue to work because we need improvement each day, each week especially before we go to Philadelphia.”
The Cowboys (2-5), who play on Sunday Night Football against the Eagles (2-4-1) in Philadelphia, are looking at a lost season and the reality might have hit McCarthy at that moment.
Here’s an edited transcript of McCarthy’s comments after Sunday’s loss:
McCarthy’s opening statement after 25-3 loss at Washington
It was a disappointing division loss. I’ve stood in front of this camera too many times this year and spoke about basics we just haven’t put together yet. I’d start with the turnovers. It obviously impacted the first half field position and we didn’t handle the adversity of it — the points off of the turnovers. And we really didn’t get the run game going as we had planned. Then with that, they ran the ball too well against us. So not a very good day. The unfortunate injury there to Andy obviously shifted us in a different direction offensively. But that’s not what we are looking for. We need to be much better and we’re running out of time.
McCarthy on whether there is a sense of frustration or hopelessness that their games are unfolding similarly
I would say frustration, clearly. No doubt about it. I wouldn’t say hopelessness because that wouldn’t reflect the men in that locker room. But frankly, we talked at half time about the ‘here we go again’ mode on the sidelines. You know, we’ve got to move past that. That’s part of making progress throughout the season. We need to learn from our mistakes. We can’t keep letting our mistakes hold us down and hold us back because we obviously have made similar mistakes in different forms or fashions. The only ones who are going to get us out of the hole are us as a football team. We’ve got to be able to keep playing, keep playing to win, not playing to not make mistakes. I felt like I saw some of that today. I obviously took a hard look at the video. It’s part of the evaluation. We’re not cutting it loose. We look like we’re holding back at certain points. We’ve got to execute better obviously. We knew we needed to play the game a certain way today and we did not get that done.
McCarthy on the team’s reaction to Andy Dalton’s injury
It was definitely a hit that caused a disqualification. But yeah, we speak all the time about playing for one another and protecting one another. Definitely it was probably not the response that you would expect.
Can the Cowboys overcome adversity?
I would say that there’s adverse moments that we didn’t respond to. I clearly feel we will overcome the adversity of the experiences we’ve had in our season. I do believe that.
McCarthy on whether changes are required with the Cowboys’ staff or roster
I mean we’ve had so much change just in our everyday function. I think the important thing is to stay the course. We understand the method and the things we need to do better. This is a process and obviously, we’re not exactly where we want to be today. We’ve been challenged with a lot of moving parts as far as a lot of different players playing. We’ll continue to work and I do believe we will turn this in the right direction.
Does McCarthy believe his players are still responding to what they are being asked to do?
Definitely. I can only tell you what goes on every day as far as the preparation, the daily communication and interaction with the players throughout the program. We knew there would be adjustments throughout as a football team. We’ve been hit with a number of challenges that we are just not pushing through right now. We need to continue to work and I believe we’ll push through the other end.
McCarthy on the Cowboys’ run defense
We didn’t play well enough obviously. The thing that disappointed me is the yards after contact. There were times that I felt that our gap integrity was pretty good but there were too many yards after contact. We need to do a better job there.
McCarthy on the Cowboys’ offensive line
We felt going into the game that their defensive line was the strongest personnel of their team. I think that answers how we approached it. Going through the adjustments that we are making up front, that was part of our plan. There were times that I felt we were able to do the things we set out to do, but there were times we were definitely playing up hill. I think that was illustrated in the execution.
Does McCarthy think the Cowboys trust each other?
Obviously, there’s a high level of frustration and emotion from that. I’ve been in this league and been a part of sports long enough to understand that you have to trust the evaluation process. At the end of the day, until everyone plays together as a team and keeps pushing forward together, we’re not doing the basics. Let’s quit candy coating it. I can’t stand up here and keep talking about taking care of the football, taking the ball away and just the fundamentals. Whether we haven’t had enough time together or whatever the case is, at the end of the day, the schedule is set and we need to continue to work because we need improvement each day, each week especially before we go to Philadelphia.
McCarthy on the Cowboys not playing complementary football
I agree with your opinion. It’s an illustration of what went on today. We knew we needed to make some plays on defense. We’re going to need takeaways. We needed to take care of the football each and every series we had it. We didn’t get that done in the first half. It put us in a play-from-behind situation. That’s definitely where we didn’t want to be. That’s not the complementary football that we haven’t really played much at all this year. We need to get that turned.
McCarthy on whether there could be defensive staff changes
That hasn’t crossed my mind. I’m focused on getting better each and every day. That’s where we are.
This story was originally published October 26, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
