Cowboys' Jerry Jones shares surprising update on future of Mike McCarthy

Numerous reporters and analysts said even before the Dallas Cowboys lost seven of their first 10 games this season that team owner and general manager Jerry Jones would likely part ways with head coach Mike McCarthy, who remains in the final campaign of his current contract, this coming January. 

During a Tuesday appearance on Dallas sports radio station 105.3 The Fan, Jones said it is "not crazy" to suggest he could stick with McCarthy beyond Week 18. 

"Listen, Mike McCarthy is an outstanding coach...a Super Bowl-winning coach. Mike McCarthy has been there and done that," Jones said, Pro Football Talk's Josh Alper shared. "He’s got great ideas. Bottom line is no place in my body language or anything else have you seen an indication about what we’re going to be doing relative to this staff at the end of the year. And we shouldn’t, we got a lot of football left."

The Cowboys reportedly had some "tough conversations" involving "coaches and players in the short week" after their 34-10 loss to the Houston Texans on Nov. 18. Dallas then responded by earning a 34-26 win at the rival Washington Commanders, which improved the Cowboys to 4-7 this past Sunday. Dallas next hosts a 2-9 New York Giants side that could be a Thanksgiving Day defeat away from blowing things up.

On Tuesday morning, the ESPN Football Power Index predicted that Dallas will finish the season at 6-11. It seems unlikely Jones would run it back with McCarthy in such a scenario, considering the coach has notched just a single postseason victory with the organization since the 2020 campaign. 

As recently as last week, the Cowboys were linked in updates with former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel. Dallas beating lowly New York on Thursday wouldn't completely silence chatter about McCarthy's uncertain future, but it could result in the Cowboys' "Monday Night Football" game versus the Cincinnati Bengals (4-7) on Dec. 9 becoming a must-win encounter for a pair of clubs looking to complete remarkable season turnarounds.