Jerry Jones 'floored' by Cowboys' playoff meltdown, hasn't weighed Mike McCarthy's status
Jerry Jones meeting with the media in the bowels of a stadium, minutes after the Dallas Cowboys’ postseason exit, is becoming a yearly tradition.
Will he employ a different coach after his latest time doing so?
Jones wouldn’t go that far, telling a massive media scrum he didn’t yet have time to process the second-seeded Cowboys’ 48-32 embarrassment against the Green Bay Packers in an NFC wild-card matchup. Head coach Mike McCarthy’s job status has become a topic of discussion, especially with Bill Belichick on the market.
"I don't have any thoughts about the reasons why, or anything to do with the coaching, or the players," Jones told reporters after the game.
Jones did call the Cowboys’ loss “one of the biggest surprises” he’d ever experienced in football and that the blowout left him “floored.”
“I want to give Green Bay a lot of compliments and credit,” he said.
Following a 6-10 showing his first season leading Dallas, a year when Prescott suffered a season-ending leg injury in Week 5, McCarthy’s teams have notched 12-5 records for three consecutive seasons. But after Sunday's loss, McCarthy is 1-3 in the postseason with the Cowboys.
“This seems like the most painful (loss) because we all had such great expectations and we had hopes for this team and thought that we were aligned and in great shape,” Jones said.
Jones was asked about when he would meet with McCarthy to evaluate the season and the head coach's future.
“There’s nothing set on that," Jones said, per The Athletic. "What I had planned to do was be with him (Monday) going over how we played today and getting ready for the coming week. That’s what was on the agenda. Tomorrow, my agenda will be to dismiss the team.”
Last week, in an interview with the Forth Worth Star Telegram, Jones said he'd evaluate McCarthy at the end of the postseason.
"I just think his record speaks for itself. I think what he's done, the fact that we've put ourselves in this position over the last three years, I think that does speak for itself," McCarthy told the paper. "And we've got a lot of football left."
Little did Jones know his team would be alive for one week more.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jerry Jones 'floored' by Cowboys' loss, mum on Mike McCarthy's status