Sometimes, NFL teams shake the foundation of their franchises in the middle of the season through significant trades or coaching changes. The Dallas Cowboys did it in 2018 when they acquired star wide receiver Amari Cooper during the bye week and in 2010 when they fired head coach Wade Phillips after eight games.
But the Cowboys’ leaders have sent a clear message in recent days: Don’t expect upheaval in the wake of a 47-9 loss to the Detroit Lions.
That 38-point margin tied for the most lopsided defeat in Jerry Jones’ 35-year tenure as the team’s owner and general manager. Still, coach Mike McCarthy and members of the team’s front office have said they don’t think an adjustment to the coaching staff or a major talent infusion is necessary as they enter a bye week.
A day after Jones said he “was not considering” firing McCarthy and reiterated that felt confident in the team’s roster, his son echoed the sentiment.
“We got the right kind of guys on the coaching staff,” Stephen Jones, the Cowboys’ executive vice president, said Monday during a radio appearance on 105.3 The Fan. “We have the right kind of players, feel like we’ve got the right group here. I don’t necessarily know that raising hell is the answer.”
In his postgame news conference, McCarthy expressed a similar message Sunday after the Cowboys got outgained 492-251 and turned the ball over five times against the Lions.
“We don’t need any help; don’t want any help,” McCarthy said in his postgame news conference. “We just need to stay after it, keep working, and I’m very confident we’ll come out the other end.”
The Cowboys enter the bye week ranked 30th out of 32 NFL teams in scoring defense, red zone defense and red zone offense. They own a minus-six turnover differential and rank last in the NFL in rushing yards per game and per carry.
Dallas is 0-3 at home, several defensive stars are battling injuries and quarterback Dak Prescot has a middling 85.5 passer rating for the season after signing a contract in September that made him the highest-paid player in NFL history in terms of average annual salary. If it holds for the year, that number would represent the lowest passer rating in Prescott’s nine-year career.
But the Cowboys, at 3-3, are just one game back in the NFC East race. And it appears McCarthy, defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer and the rest of the staff will get a chance to quell their struggles and keep the roster mostly intact.
The team has relied on seven rookies and several new additions to the roster to contribute, and McCarthy said Monday that more time together can help his players fix their issues with fundamentals and technique.
If it doesn’t, the Joneses will continue to face questions about the need for change.
“If we don’t believe it’ll always be about us and play to who we are, what we do, how we do it, then we’re not going to get to where we want to go,” McCarthy said. “And I believe we will. And I think this is an opportunity that we relish. I know I relish it.”