Mike McCarthy: 'Still a little bit numb' after playoff loss

The Dallas Cowboys are growing through the throes of post-season changes instead of preparing to face a new team in the divisional round of the playoffs thanks to their collapse on Sunday against Green Bay. Head coach Mike McCarthy is holding onto his job after a three-hour meeting with Jerry Jones but he must still evaluate where the team went so wrong. The 60-year-old coach told reporters during his end-of-season press conference on Thursday that he’s still “a bit numb” to what happened against the Packers.

“It’s still raw right now, I’m still a little bit numb,” McCarthy said. “It doesn’t matter what year you’re in, the level of success you have. You’re always going to have changes and adjustments and emphasis. There are a lot of things that were accomplished, we have to build off those things… We’re just getting started.”

One of the few active coaches in the league with a Super Bowl to his name, McCarthy has no shortage of confidence. That confidence allowed him to keep calm even as everyone from Michael Irvin to Stephen A. Smith called for his firing on Monday. Despite it all, McCarthy admitted that he did feel concern on the part of his family, which includes his players and coaches, as he entered his meeting with Jones.

“Professionally, this is what I do. It’s tough, no doubt about it. The family part is the only thing that concerns me,” McCarthy said, later adding, “I was just in the moment, frankly. I’ll be honest with you. The only thing I was worried about was my family. I have confidence in myself… The job’s not finished.”

Cowboys opt to retain head coach Mike McCarthy

Team owner Jerry Jones assigned blame for the loss against the Packers to everyone within the organization, not just McCarthy. He said this week that he still believes the former Green Bay coach will lead Dallas to a Super Bowl.

“I believe this team is very close and capable of achieving our ultimate goals and the best step forward for us will be with Mike McCarthy as our head coach,” Jones said in a statement. “There is great benefit to continuing the team’s progress under Mike’s leadership as our head coach. Specifically, there are many layers of success that have occurred this season as a result of Mike’s approach to leading the team, both with individual players and with our team collectively.

“Mike has the highest regular season winning percentage of any head coach in Cowboys history and we will dedicate ourselves, in partnership with him, to translating that into reaching our postseason goals. Certainly, Mike’s career has demonstrated post-season success at a high level, and we have great confidence that can continue.”

Prior to the team’s loss, McCarthy was potentially in line for an extension. Now, it seems as thought Jones may wait and see what the 2024 season brings before opting in for more.