Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy undergoing surgery for acute appendicitis
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy is set for surgery Wednesday afternoon following a diagnosis of acute appendicitis.
UPDATE: Jane Slater with NFL Network reported that McCarthy is out of surgery. The procedure went well.
EARLIER: The team announced the medical development before practice started this afternoon. Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn will handle a scheduled media appearance for McCarthy. Then Quinn, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and special teams coordinator John Fassel will run practice.
The team said McCarthy experienced abdominal pain Wednesday morning. If all goes expected, McCarthy will be released from the hospital later today. He expects to be on the sideline Sunday night when the Cowboys meet the Eagles in the ultra important NFC East matchup.
Quinn filled in some details Wednesday afternoon. He said that both he and McCarthy got to the office at the same time Wednesday morning. But he said McCarthy didn’t look well. The head coach walked straight to the athletic trainers office.
But he said that McCarthy will be back for Sunday’s game.
“You really think that tough Irishman is going to miss this game?” Quinn quipped to reporters. “We’ll hold it down for practices. Knowing him, he’ll be online tonight wanting to go through red zone and third down and everything else.
“We expect him to be rocking by game day.”
A medical condition forced McCarthy to miss rookie orientation earlier this year. He needed a procedure on his back, which kept him from being on site at Cowboys headquarters. However, he did conduct virtual meetings.
Plus, back in 2020, a COVID diagnosis kept McCarthy from coaching a game against the Saints. Quinn took over for him that day as well.
The Cowboys and Eagles face each other Sunday night in one of the most important games off the NFL regular season. With a 10-2 record, Philadelphia leads the NFC East by one game over the Cowboys with five games to play. The Eagles narrowly won the first game last month in Philly.
In fact, Philadelphia currently is the top seed in the NFC. But the 49ers could seize it away. San Francisco has dismanted both the Cowboys and the Eagles already this season.