FRISCO, Texas — Outside of the building, many have placed Mike McCarthy on the hot seat going into the bye week following the blowout loss at the hands of the Detroit Lions, but that isn't the case inside of the Dallas Cowboys' facility — the team's head coach and offensive play caller not set to be relieved of his duties.
Team ownership put those rumors to bed this week, and emphatically.
"I haven't considered that and I'm not considering that hypothetical," owner and general manager Jerry Jones said immediately following the loss on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. "Just so we're clear, I'm not considering it. Do you think I'm an idiot? OK then, well I'm not going to hypothetical with you about what I'd consider for a coaching change, or timing.
"I'm not at all."
The last time Jones made such a sweeping change was in 2010, when he dismissed head coach Wade Phillips and installed offensive coordinator Jason Garrett as interim before assigning the latter the role full-time, a role he'd remain in until he and the team parted ways to make room for the hiring of McCarthy in 2020.
Jones isn't interested in reliving 2010, nor does he see a reason to, comparatively speaking.
"I won't be making any others during or in a season," he said, doubling down. "We were 1-7 at that time [in 2010]. … That's a little bit of a difference there."
The current iteration of the Cowboys will enter their bye week with a 3-3 record but having dropped a "very concerning" three games at home (four consecutive stemming back to January) but with three road wins under their belt as well, including a gritty win against the Steelers in Pittsburgh only one week ago.
It's impossible to know which version of the Cowboys is real right now, but what is definitely true is that the front office is willing to let things play out before making what Jones labeled a "knee jerk" reaction regarding his current head coach.
When asked about McCarthy's status on Monday, executive vice president Stephen Jones echoed the plan — then adding breadth to it by all but confirming there would also be no coaching changes to the staff below McCarthy.
"We've got real pros all in this building," said Jones to 105.3 The Fan. "You start with Mike McCarthy, he's got the skins on the wall. He's been through this. Mike Zimmer has been a head coach of quality teams up in Minnesota. We've got people.
"We've got one of the best special teams coaches in the league. We've got the right kind of guys on the coaching staff."
In all, the Cowboys are going to keep faith in the head coach that led them to three consecutive 12-win seasons, making him one of the winningest regular season coaches in franchise history, with faith he can get the team refocuses after tasking the everyone, including himself, with “looking in the mirror” over the next several days in preparation for the San Francisco 49ers.
And, with that, McCarthy will move forward with full support of the front office.
"No, I don't [see a coaching change coming]," Stephen Jones added. "I think the guys that are here just gotta do more. We're obviously not doing enough to get the job done right now. I think the coaching staff understands that.
"I think players understand that and I know we in ownership and management understand that, and we've just gotta go to work."
There are 11 games remaining in the 2024 season, so the story of it all is still being written.
And McCarthy will keep the pen in his hand going forward.
