Though the Cowboys have yet to even take the field for their wild-card matchup Monday versus the Buccaneers, rumblings abound regarding head coach Mike McCarthy's future if an early Dallas exit is ahead.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones did his darndest Tuesday to stop any of those rumors, as he was rather adamant that McCarthy's job was not in jeopardy on Monday.
"No. I don't even want to -- no. That's it," Jones told 103.5 The Fan when asked if there was an outcome Monday that could put his head coach's job in peril. "I don't need to go into all the pluses or minuses, but I've got a lot more to evaluate Mike McCarthy on than this playoff game."
So far in his Cowboys tenure, McCarthy has produced a 30-20 record that includes a 2021 NFC East title and securing back-to-back playoff berths for the franchise for the first time since the 2006-07 seasons. However, Dallas is 0-1 in the playoffs since McCarthy took over. Not to mention, the last Cowboys coach to pilot Dallas to repeat playoff trips was Chan Gailey in 1998-99, and Jones fired him after a second straight one-and-done playoff showing.
The Cowboys' playoff ills have lingered since their dynastic squads of the 1990s.
Dallas hasn't won a Super Bowl since the 1995 season, and hasn't advanced past the Divisional Round since that same campaign.
Thusly, Dallas' postseason stumbles extend far beyond McCarthy's arrival.
Nonetheless, the head coach's seat is seemingly always warm in Big D and it's unlikely Jones' supportive words six days ahead of the Cowboys' wild-card game will quell any of those aforementioned rumblings.
Fueling the fire atop the head coaching seat has been Dallas' turnover-prone play (five over the past two games) on offense as of late, which culminated with a 26-6 loss to the rival Commanders in Week 18.
Ever the optimist, Jones believes McCarthy and Co. can make the necessary alterations before the Cowboys suit up to play the Buccaneers and Tom Brady, who's never lost to Dallas.
"I have real confidence, all the confidence in the world in Mike and our offensive line coaches and our offensive personnel, our coordinator," Jones said. "I have all the faith in the world that we can make the kind of adjustments we need to make this week.
"I can see us playing better. We've got to play better at Tampa, but I've got confidence in our coaches to get that straightened out."
