Late Sunday night in the Dallas Cowboys locker room, as the players were enjoying a 26-24 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, head coach Mike McCarthy was making his way through a jovial scene when he saw the Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones near an entrance. Earlier in the day, the two had shared a conversation filled with disappointment when they learned that the Cowboys had been eliminated from the playoffs by a victory by the Washington Commanders. But now, as McCarthy approached Jerry, the tenor of the day had changed.
Jerry smiled. And when McCarthy extended his hand to shake it, the owner opened his arms and hugged his head coach. He then took a few moments to talk to McCarthy, one hand on the coach’s shoulder and another gently hitting him in the chest with a fist. As the exchange died down, Jones patted McCarthy on the shoulder and clenched his fist. All of this, perhaps not coincidentally, played out in front of a “Sunday Night Football” camera that televised the emotional exchange to whatever portion of the Cowboys audience was still watching.
If you were to evaluate what’s going on with the Cowboys head coach and franchise owner right now, this was a worthwhile clip for two reasons: First, it’s clearly something that Jerry, still very aware of the optics and power of theater: he wanted people to see it. Whether it was a public display of pride or affection that McCarthy had earned or Jones simply wanted to staple an image to his words that night, he knew where the moment would end. In one word, everywhere. And the second reason why timing matters? Jerry knows this is happening amid a time when the main conversation about McCarthy is about his employment situation, a situation Jerry created when he decided to have his head coach enter the final year of his contract without a discernible public mandate on How an extension could be achieved.
Let’s be honest about this joyful but complicated embrace as it goes: both men created it. Jerry letting McCarthy play this series of games without having clarity on what might be next for the Cowboys coaching staff. And McCarthy by possibly reserving his best training for the part of the season when there was nothing else to ensure other than the dignity of not giving up.
Make no mistake, that’s what we saw last night. McCarthy showed a locker room that is still galvanized despite missing a postseason goal. They gutted it with a massive series of injuries to the offensive line and backup quarterback in Cooper Rush, not to mention receiver CeeDee Lamb, who played with a painful shoulder issue Sunday. Couple that with a lame defense that picked apart a good Buccaneers offense and literally ripped away a victory in the final moments Sunday night, when Cornerback DaRon Bland scooped a fumble out of the belly of Tampa running back Rashaad White.. It was a moment that encapsulated a series of big plays on both sides of the ball, definitively stopping a winning drive that seemed very achievable for quarterback Baker Mayfield.
The resonant feeling? The Cowboys’ playoff hopes are dead, but the attitude toward the remaining schedule is anything but buried. Instead, a narrative is being deployed about the culture, about whether there really is some kind of underlying strength that Dallas can show in the final weeks of the season that says something about this team and its coach. Maybe it’ll be enough to fulfill the hopes of the franchise’s cornerstones, including Lamb, quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Micah Parsons, who have (somewhat) backed McCarthy’s return in 2025. Surely, Jerry has heard that message, leaving him alone. Look for reasons to retain McCarthy that go beyond the three consecutive 12-win seasons preceding 2024.
This embedded content is not available in your region.
Afterward, Jerry effusively praised the effort in the victory over the Buccaneers, making it clear that it had stirred something emotional inside him.
“Those guys came out and played like they were fighting in the championship game to go to the Super Bowl,” Jones said afterward. “I can’t express how proud I am of them and the coaching staff. “It really shows me something.”
For his part, McCarthy tried to clarify what that something was.
“I just think (the effort) shows who they are,” McCarthy said. “I think everyone says that the coach always speaks highly of the locker room; Well, this is what I mean. When I say ‘it’s a great locker room’, this is the definition. That’s what a great locker room is like. And it’s a mix of men from all over the country, from all over the world, and different personalities. Obviously in circumstances (outside of the playoffs) that we have already discussed at length. But when it came time to play, they played hard and I can’t express how proud I am.”
Of course, this kind of peak (winning four of the last five games, getting to 7-8 with a chance to finish the season 9-8) comes with measurements that go beyond a great locker room. There are fair questions to be asked about where this locker room culture was during a brutal five-game losing streak from mid-October to mid-November. It was a stretch that saw Dallas get annihilated in three of those games, against the Detroit Lions (47-9 loss), Philadelphia Eagles (34-6) and Houston Texans (34-10). And it wasn’t long ago that Jerry was openly questioning some parts of Dallas’ plan, while also spiraling into sometimes bizarre postgame rants that lacked a cohesive connection to the here and now.
Those were the days when Bill Belichick was possibly the next Cowboys coach, and it wasn’t that long ago. But times can also change quickly with Jerry. Ride Everest highs after victories and Death Valley lows after losses. All of which usually results in a roller coaster ride for McCarthy when it comes to his future employment.
Right now, the Cowboys are winning again, even if it’s too little, too late when it comes to the postseason. But as the wins have begun to pile up on the ledger and support from vital players has waned in the public’s (and Jerry’s) consciousness, the disappointment has also begun to soften where it matters. You hear it in Jerry’s words. You see it in the arms and hug between an owner and a head coach that seemed to be an intentional message to the fan base.
Things are changing. A 9-8 finish and the positive response from his players lead Mike McCarthy to point out the one thing Jerry has avoided offering him so far.
A contract extension.