NFL
‘Do you think I’m an idiot?’ Cowboys owner Jerry Jones quizzed on Mike McCarthy’s position
The Dallas Cowboys slumped to a 47-9 home defeat to the Detroit Lions on Jones’ 82nd birthday.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones turned 82 years old on Sunday. His present? A chastening 47-9 blowout against the Detroit Lions, taking the Cowboys’ 2024 record to 3-3 for the season.
All three of their defeats so far this year have been at home and the Cowboys have been beaten by more than 15 points in each, a bleak record for Mike McCarthy. The head coach is now in the final year of his contract and the team’s lack of playoff success in recent years heightened the pressure on McCarthy ahead of the new season.
On Sunday evening, Jones was asked whether McCarthy’s position was now under threat.
“Oh, I haven’t even considered that,” Jones insisted, when asked if a coaching change was imminent. “I’m not considering that. Just so you’re clear, I’m not considering that.”
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For all his outer confidence in McCarthy, this would not be the first time that Jones has dispensed with a head coach in the middle of the season. In 2010 Wade Phillips began with a 1-7 start and Jones promptly fired him, bringing in Jason Garrett as replacement.
However this time, Jones pushed back on the suggestion that he might do the same this year.
“That would be a hypothetical. In that matter, do you think I’m an idiot? Do you? OK. Well, I’m not going to hypothetical with you about would I consider a coaching change in light of the timing we’re sitting here with. I’m not. At all.”
While Dallas’ 2024 record is still considerably better than Phillips’, the nature of the three losses - along with the $60 million-per-year deal handed to QB Dak Prescott - has undoubtedly upped the pressure on McCarthy.
Sunday’s defeat was the largest home defeat in the 35 years that Jerry Jones has owned the team. They have a bye week coming up, giving them time to refresh and regroup ahead of a daunting run of fixtures, travelling to the San Francisco 49ers (October 27) and the Atlanta Falcons (November 3). McCarthy will be eager to avoid further embarrassment.