Dallas Cowboys Coach Mike McCarthy took responsibility for the team’s failings after a report surfaced claiming Cowboys players had “lost faith” in their coaches.
Players told NFL Network’s Jane Slater that the team’s coaches are unprepared and “aren’t good at their jobs.”
“They don’t teach,” an unnamed player told Slater. “They don’t have any sense of adjusting on the fly.”
McCarthy addressed the controversy on Tuesday with reporters.
“I think the keyword there is anonymous,” Mike McCarthy said, according to DallasCowboys.com. “We’ve looked at how things were done here in the past and there’s a clear vision in understanding and demand on how things need to be moving forward. But it’s important for us to have those conversations as men one on one or as a group.”
Frustrations within the team seemed to bubble over after the Cowboy’s loss on Monday Night Football to the Arizona Cardinals. Dallas is 2-4 on the year, but the team leads the anemic NFC East Division.
McCarthy, who is in his first year with the Cowboys, says he understands the team’s frustrations but wishes players spoke with him directly.
“I think you do have to recognize it,’‘ McCarthy told the Star-Telegram. “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. …
“I’ll talk to anybody, in particular, in our inner circle. 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.”
The team has a lot of problems. Most importantly seems to be their laundry list of injuries. Quarterback Dak Prescott is now out for the season after going down with a gruesome ankle injury in Week 5 against the Giants. And the shortened offseason because of coronavirus has made switching to defensive coordinator Mike Nolan’s new defensive scheme a struggle.
But McCarthy isn’t shirking responsibility. He said he realizes the coaches could be doing better.
“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.”
