Mike McCarthy has long preached that conflict is healthy.
The Pittsburgh native has spoken about growing up in a family that confronted rather than skirted problems.
So on Monday morning, the Dallas Cowboys head coach spoke with his star edge rusher.
Micah Parsons generated headlines across social media and talk shows after Sunday night comments about his coach’s work ethic and the relative concern for McCarthy’s job status compared to his teammates’ looming retirement.
“When [something] does create questions for others in the locker room, something that I’ve always done: Conversation has to happen,” McCarthy said. “So Micah and I had a conversation this morning about it. Handled those things as men should handle it.”
Questions about McCarthy’s job status are heightening as the Cowboys sit at 3-6 during the final year of their head coach’s contract.
McCarthy led the Cowboys to three 12-win seasons from 2021 through 2023. But early playoff exits, including a blowout home loss to the Green Bay Packers in January, kept team owner Jerry Jones from extending McCarthy’s contract past the 2024 season.
With eight games to play, the Cowboys have a 1 percent chance of making the playoffs this season, per The Athletic’s playoff predictor.
A reporter asked Parsons in the postgame locker room: “Mike’s on the final year of his contract so outside, of course, there’s going to be questions. What’s the sentiment inside the locker room and what do you tell people who are wondering about whether McCarthy will be your coach next year?”
Parsons said it was “above my paygrade on if Mike is coaching again next year.”
“Coaching, Mike can leave and go wherever he wants,” Parsons added. “Guys I kind of feel bad for [are] guys like [veteran right guard] Zack Martin and guys who might be on their last year or on their way out. Because that’s who I wanted to hold the trophy for. You want to win games and do great things with those type of legends who put in more time and work than Mike McCarthy ever did.
“So those are the kind of guys that I have so much sympathy and hurt for.”
Questions swirled about Parsons’ descriptions of Martin and McCarthy’s relative time investment. While the seven-time All-Pro did arrive to the Cowboys seven years before McCarthy did, McCarthy began coaching in the NFL more than two decades before Martin arrived in the league. McCarthy won a Super Bowl during his 13 years as Green Bay Packers head coach.
In 18 years at the helm of two organizations, he’s not new to the response that player sentiment can create. Parsons said on his podcast Monday night that he didn’t intend “to throw McCarthy under the bus.”
“That wasn’t his intent,” McCarthy said. “The other part of this is [that] I don’t want to see any of my players getting attacked from the other sides. We have so much more that we need to focus on, and that’s really what we talk about through to the game today. … Keep it about football, bear down on the things we have to improve on.
“These are the things you need to eliminate from your culture. Just like anything, conversations bring resolution and I think this is an example of that.”
Parsons’ comments came after his first game in more than a month as he battled a high ankle sprain. The Cowboys have lost defensive stars in Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence and DaRon Bland during this season. Most recently, quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a hamstring tear that’s expected to be season-ending.
Dallas’ home blowout losses predate their injury streak.
The Cowboys have not won at home since last December. They’ve fallen into deep holes at home against the Packers, New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions and now the Philadelphia Eagles.
Jones’ frustration was evident Sunday night as he watched the Eagles win in his house for the first time since 2017. The Cowboys turned the ball over five times for the second straight home game, the 34-6 Eagles loss succeeding a 47-9 deficit against the Lions. Quarterback Cooper Rush, starting in place of Prescott, completed 13 of 23 pass attempts for 45 yards.
Jones said he does not intend to make a head coaching change before season’s end. He regretted firing Wade Phillips midseason in 2009 and he regretted firing Chan Gailey after two years.
What does Jones want to see from McCarthy the remaining eight games?
“My criteria has always been how we’re playing or do we have an edge?” Jones said Sunday night. “Fundamentally, are we competitive? Are we competitive when we’re down? Those kinds of things. … Nobody’s trying to be fair here. We’re trying to win a game. And so those are the things I’m looking at to help be a part of decisions that could help us win a game.”
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As the Cowboys keep searching, they host the Houston Texans next week in prime time on Monday Night Football. Another home loss could await. The Cowboys are 7.5-point underdogs, per BetMGM.
Player questions will likely continue. But McCarthy said he won’t address that possibility with his locker room even though he addressed this week’s fallout with Parsons.
“They’re grown men,” McCarthy said. “They know they need to answer it the way they feel they need to answer it. [Reporters] have a job to do. We have a job to do. It’s our responsibility to deal with the media.
“I think being genuine’s important. I think giving [rote] answers just leads to follow-up questions. Good reporters like yourself will do follow-ups and just keep going after them. But yeah, I’ve never stood up there and said, ‘Hey you need to say this, this and this to that question.’
“I don’t think that’s real and these guys know what they’re doing.”