Cowboys' Jerry Jones sends pointed message to Mike McCarthy with public disrespect

There is truly never a dull moment with the Dallas Cowboys. While that beats rooting for a team that doesn't move the needle in either direction, Cowboys fans oftentimes don't have a moment to catch their breath.

The man at the helm is seemingly always to thank for that. It's rare when Jerry Jones isn't taking slings and arrows from the fan base, but the sheer vitriol he has faced in recent weeks suggests fans are at their wits end.

While Jones' titles as the team's owner and de facto general manager are safe - he has stated publicly that he isn't stepping down - the same cannot be said for head coach Mike McCarthy, at least beyond the 2024 season.

Jones vouched for McCarthy after Dallas' blowout loss to the Lions in Week 6, but he wasn't as endearing during his Tuesday appearance on 105.3 The Fan.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones publicly criticized Mike McCarthy's play-calling

"The types of things that we all think we should be looking at is we're designing bad plays, or we're designing bad concepts," Jones said. "The facts are that there's some of that but there's also some of execution."

Talk about throwing your head coach under the bus.

The sad part is that Jones' comments hold a lot of merit. McCarthy's offensive scheme has been agonizing to watch. McCarthy's route concepts lack ideation and Dallas ranks near the bottom of the league in pre-snap movement and motion.

Franchise legend Troy Aikman believes the Cowboys' wide receivers deserve a lot of the blame. Aikman called the routes "terrible" and questioned the pass-catchers' effort when a play isn't designed for them.

It's probably a mixture of McCarthy's scheme and lackluster routes, but what ultimately matters is that Dak Prescott has thrown into tight windows, which are defined by less than one yard of separation, at the highest rate in the NFL this season at 22.8%. That is not a recipe for success, no matter how talented your quarterback is.

The Cowboys mustered just 251 yards of offense last time out against the Lions. That included just 53 rushing yards. For the season, Detroit ranks 18th in yards allowed per game at 338.3.

While Jones conceited that Dallas also has an execution problem, his criticism of McCarthy should light a fire under the head coach.

Fortunately, McCarthy revealed that he made substantive changes during the bye week. We'll see how that translates Sunday night against the 49ers and beyond, but Jones' appearance on 105.3 The Fan proves that McCarthy is under pressure to improve the offense.

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