Cowboys owner Jerry Jones – Mike McCarthy’s job not at stake

FRISCO, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones has once again backed Mike McCarthy.

Asked on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday if a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on “Monday Night Football” could affect McCarthy’s status as a head coach, Jones was blunt.

“No. I don’t even want to … No. That’s it,” he said. “I don’t need to get into all the pluses or minuses. I have a lot more to appreciate Mike McCarthy than this playoff game.”

The last coach to lead the Cowboys to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons was Chan Gailey in 1998-99. He was fired after a 27-10 wild-card loss to the Minnesota Vikings after a two-year run with an 18-14 record.

2 Connected

Jones has called the quick decision to move on from Gailey so soon a mistake.

Immediately following last year’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Jones seemed to leave open the possibility of a change; however, he later said he was doing so in part to keep defensive coordinator Dan Quinn on staff as he interviewed for a number of coaching vacancies.

The Denver Broncos have requested permission to speak with Quinn for the second year in a row.

“I can’t tell you how much confidence I have in Mike and our coaching staff to be in charge of where we are with this team right now,” Jones said. “They have every nuance. They understand every weakness we might have or might have shown on Sunday [in the loss to Washington]. They have everything in their hands and in their understanding, and I have complete faith in this coaching staff. It is extraordinary. We have a great chance to go down there and be successful.”

McCarthy, who has two years left on his contract, has led the Cowboys to back-to-back 12-5 records, winning the NFC East in 2021. It’s the first time since 1994-95 the Cowboys have had 12 seasons consecutive wins. The record this year includes a 4-1 mark with backup quarterback Cooper Rush taking over for an injured Dak Prescott, who broke his right thumb in the season-opening loss to the Buccaneers.

With that win, Tom Brady improved to 7-0 all-time against the Cowboys, which Jones tried to play down on Tuesday.

“When you really think about it, we’re not playing Brady,” Jones said. “We’re playing Tampa Bay, the team. And it’s possible that we can make Brady not play well and get our tails beaten by the rest of the team. And I’m not trying to be cute. But we have to to go play the whole team. And that Brady thing has to be sensitive. I know it’s there and I respect it. It gives us a challenge to do something we haven’t done before, and that’s beat Tom Brady.”