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By Jon Machota 1h ago
FRISCO, Texas — For the first time since last year’s NFL scouting combine 13 months ago, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy met with reporters in person Thursday at The Star. It was also the first time McCarthy talked with reporters since the season ended.
The second-year Cowboys head coach seemed to be in a good mood, cracking jokes about doing cartwheels on the sand in Florida when he heard Dak Prescott was getting a new contract and sarcastically saying he “wouldn’t be surprised if we took some defensive players in the draft.”
To break down everything that was discussed during the 45-minute session, here’s a list of the 20 biggest takeaways.
1. Latest on Dak Prescott. McCarthy said he was in Florida on vacation when Prescott’s four-year, $160 million contract was finalized three weeks ago.
“He is definitely a keystone of moving forward as a football team,” McCarthy said. “I was very excited about that. He was just finishing up his workout on the field as I walked in here. He’s making progress and he’s on course. I’m excited about Year 2 of the offense because, frankly, in a lot of ways we feel like we really didn’t get to have Year 1. We’re excited about what we can do this year with a healthy offense.
McCarthy later added: “Dak, he’s the keystone of this football team. That’s the way I view it. That’s the way we’re going to push forward with it, too. The quarterback touches the ball every play. But also, his presence and his natural leadership ability is something that will continue to grow. I think you’ll see that in the locker room.”
2. Addressing the defense. Just like anyone who watched the Cowboys last year, McCarthy understands his primary focus this offseason has to be on fixing a historically bad defense. There have already been several defensive coaching staff changes and the majority of Dallas’ 10 draft picks are expected to be used on that side of the ball. But if you were hoping for a major overhaul in terms of scheme under new defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, McCarthy didn’t provide the message you wanted to hear.
“Schematically, to the naked eye, in layman’s terms, I don’t think we’ll see a whole lot,” he said, “because I think it’s important to build off of what we did accomplish there in probably the second eight weeks, our ability to take the ball away. There are probably some conceptual things I felt like our players really understood and played fast, which wasn’t there in the first eight weeks. This isn’t a start-over situation. We’re able to build off of some of the things we accomplished last year. That definitely was part of my thinking.”
3. Moving back to a 4-3? Quinn is coming from a Falcons team that ran a 4-3 defense. His Seahawks defenses before that were also 4-3. So that means the Cowboys will be moving back to the 4-3 base defense they ran under Rod Marinelli, correct? Not exactly. McCarthy shared similar thoughts on Thursday to what he said last year when Mike Nolan became the defensive coordinator. He wants the Cowboys to be multiple, having the ability to line up in both 4-3 and 3-4 fronts.
“The ability to have the 3-4 components to it and the 4-3 components based on how you view what that is, then it’s more about the techniques and alignments, assignments and front that allows for guys to play,” he said. “You’ll see both those components. It’s not a whole lot different than what Mike (Nolan) was trying to get to last year. There will be a tighter blend of that. I think clearly, I’m standing here now compared to when I was standing here last year, the understanding of the players we do have and their strengths and how we want to continue to play to it.
“Plus, the players we added. I think you can see the common theme of the players we’ve added in the front. You’re seeing players with more length and different body type. In my view, just in general terms, you can’t have enough 6-4, 6-5, 255-260-pound athletes on your football team. It makes you better on offense, defense and special teams.”
4. Keanu Neal. The most notable signing the Cowboys have made during this free agency period will begin working as a linebacker in Dallas. Neal has experience playing safety for Quinn in Atlanta, but he’s expected to play multiple positions for the Cowboys.
“Keanu is an impact player,” McCarthy said. “I think that’s an excellent signing for us. Real excited to get him, and I know Dan and all the guys that worked with him in Atlanta were excited to add him to the mix. I look at him as an impact player.”
5. Pro-Day philosophy. McCarthy and Quinn were in attendance for Alabama’s first of two pro days on Tuesday. Despite all the elite offensive talent the Crimson Tide have, the connection with the Cowboys goes directly to the defense, more specifically, cornerback Patrick Surtain II.
So are we reading too much into McCarthy being on that particular visit?
“Keep writing about it,” he joked. “That’s why we’re doing it. Nah, I mean, there’s a lot that goes into it. Other things are going on. Me going to Alabama and South Carolina and going to Virginia Tech, or am I going to go to Ohio State and Kentucky? It’s fluid. This year is just so different than any of the others because you don’t have the combine. It’s really trying to get the right number of touches on these players as you can. It’s not as much about what set of eyes. Is it good for me and Dan to go or is it better for Will (McClay) and Dan to go? Plus, there were things going on here the last couple days.
“So I wouldn’t put a tremendous amount into it. But I’m also not naïve to the fact that this year is different because this is your only chance to really get a live look at these guys. Yeah, you could probably put more into it this year than others, to be honest. But in our particular instance, I don’t think it’s going to factor in who’s picked at No. 10, if that’s what you’re looking for.”
Mike McCarthy (Jon Machota / The Athletic)
6. Tyron Smith and La’el Collins updates. There continue to be positive reports about both as Smith works his way back from neck surgery and Collins from hip surgery.
“I mean, they look great,” McCarthy said. “Obviously Tyron went through training camp so obviously I have a good feel for him. LC, he was just out there with Dak. He looks like he’s close to being ready to go. I can say that about all the veteran injured players. Unless a guy went out of town for an extended weekend, I can’t recall a day that they haven’t been here. That part has been very regular. Those guys, they all look good. We don’t expect any setbacks.”
7. Jaylon Smith. McCarthy didn’t say which linebacker spot Smith would be playing in 2021, but he spoke highly of the team’s leading tackler when asked to assess how he played last year. With Neal expected to get work on the weakside, Smith could see playing time at all three spots depending on the health of the unit.
“What I like about Jaylon is he practices every day,” McCarthy said. “He’s 100 miles an hour. He gives it to you at work, in the study part of it, he lines up and plays every week. I thought he had a very productive year. I think at times, like coaches and players, it wasn’t quite clear. Our timing wasn’t quite where we wanted it to be. I just think that comes with the process of a new staff and a new scheme and some of the things we’re trying to do.”
8. Aldon Smith. Although it was reported earlier in the week that the Cowboys were moving on from the 31-year-old edge rusher, McCarthy isn’t quite ready to shut the door on Smith returning for a second season.
“That’s still fluid,” McCarthy said. “I personally haven’t moved on. I was in a conversation yesterday about Aldon, so we’ll see how that works out moving forward. … We’re still talking there.”
9. Defensive line. What is McCarthy looking for from his group up front? Players who can line up at multiple positions.
“Just in general, you really don’t want players that can do one thing,” he said. “If a guy is just really good at one component of his game, he’s probably going to have to be the best in the business at it. The ability to play a three-technique, also play a four inside shade technique, come out and play a five … that’s the flexibility that you’re looking for. The three veteran linemen that we signed (Carlos Watkins, Brent Urban, Tarell Basham) all have that capability. That’s what I’m talking about, the growth, talking about 3-4 versus 4-3. The variation of guys being able to play multiple techniques and have the length.”
10. Tyrone Crawford. McCarthy was hesitant to reveal the news but he eventually shared that Crawford’s NFL career has come to an end. He made his plans known to McCarthy during the team’s exit interviews in January.
Crawford played several different positions along the defensive line during his nine seasons in Dallas. But injuries started to add up, which included him having multiple hip surgeries in 2019. The signings of Watkins, Urban and Basham were a pretty good indicator that Crawford probably wasn’t coming back for another season.
11. Sean Lee. Like Crawford, Lee entered the offseason as a potential candidate to retire. Lee has played 11 seasons in Dallas. But McCarthy said the team is “still in discussions” with the 34-year-old linebacker about him continuing his career with the Cowboys.
He would likely be fourth on the linebacker depth chart if he returned, playing behind Leighton Vander Esch, Smith and Neal.
12. Dan Quinn. McCarthy said the hiring process had to go quickly because of the interest in Quinn from other teams. The Cowboys announced on Jan. 8 that Nolan would not be returning. Quinn agreed to take the job on Jan. 11.
When did Quinn first get on McCarthy’s radar?
“I remember Dan when he was with the Dolphins (2005-2006) and with the 49ers (2001-2004),” he said. “Just his reputation as a D-Line coach. And then obviously when he went to Seattle, he did a great, great job there. We’ve had some battles there. And then, frankly, down in Atlanta, they beat us in the NFC Championship Game in 2016. So I have a good history with Dan.”
(Jerome Miron / USA Today)
13. Biggest mistake? McCarthy didn’t immediately have a specific answer to a question about his biggest regret from 2020, but he later noted the following.
“We tried to change too much on defense, that would be it if we’re looking for a mistake,” he said. “And I don’t think it’s a mistake. We didn’t get it done. We went in with too much volume, but this is all part of the direction that Jerry (Jones) and Stephen (Jones) and I when we sat down we felt that this is the direction this football team needed to go. So there definitely was some miss on the understanding of what fits and what didn’t fit. And you can never really truly find it out until you go through it. Was our projection off? Yeah, it definitely was in some areas.”
McCarthy later noted that coming out of the Pittsburgh game in Week 9 and the Minnesota game in Week 11, the Cowboys “were probably at that point where we were starting to play the right way” on defense.
“There was more consistency in our time clock and our fits and how guys were coming off,” he added. “The communication was where it needed to be. Yeah, it was disappointing it took that long, but that’s just the facts of the matter. If you look at the (turnover ratio), which is my No. 1 emphasis as a head coach, we ended up seventh in the league in taking the ball away. And that was a huge part of our production down the stretch there. I think it’s something we can build off of.”
14. Biggest thing McCarthy learned from Year 1 to Year 2 in Dallas?
“The pressure of adversity and the pressure of the job that I have today is truly a privilege,” he said. “It’s a privilege to be back in the NFL and I’m just enjoying it. When you have a chance to step away, I’m really savoring these moments. I missed it. There were points last year I thought, ‘What the hell did I come back to?’ But it’s really just a privilege to stand here in front of you and get ready to build a team that can contend for a championship.”
15. Interesting exchange. About 18 minutes into the news conference, McCarthy was asked by a reporter about defensive players saying off the record that they weren’t graded as much last season as in previous seasons. McCarthy denied that claim during a lengthy response.
The reporter then followed up: “So assignment, alignment, effort, all that was graded last year?”
McCarthy: “Absolutely. Every play of every practice. Every play of every game. It’s nonsense to think that it wasn’t. That’s what coaches do.”
Reporter: “I was told differently, so I wanted to give you the opportunity to address that.”
McCarthy: “Well, I kindly disagree 100 percent with your opinion.”
Reporter: “Fair enough. But it’s not an opinion. I just wanted to give you an opportunity to address that.”
McCarthy: “Well done.”
16. Dak protecting himself. McCarthy was asked for his take on Prescott’s recent comments about needing to be smarter as a runner.
“From my personal experience, I think the way the league plays today, makes it a little easier,” McCarthy said. “In the ’90s it was a bigger challenge. I think the quarterbacks are clearly protected more. I think that’s why I think you see wide-open offenses with the running of the quarterback, and you see that advance. I don’t think it will be a huge adjustment for him. I don’t think he needs to be lowering his shoulder and stiff-arming maybe as much. Jerry (Jones) probably wants him to run out of bounds every play.
“But I think he’s got to be just a little more mindful of it. I don’t ever try to make a statement to a player that would make him hesitate, because hesitation in the NFL is you’re a full step slower than the opponent, and that could potentially put you in a worst position.”
17. Backup QB. What’s the plan now that Andy Dalton is in Chicago? McCarthy said it’s something they will continue to monitor. They currently have Garrett Gilbert, Cooper Rush and Ben DiNucci behind Prescott on the depth chart.
“There are definitely some veterans that we’ve talked to who I’m sure would like the opportunity to be here,” McCarthy said, “now that Dak’s contract is done and I think everyone has a clear understanding of what that room is potentially going to look like.”
18. Safety position. The Cowboys signed veteran safety Jayron Kearse to a one-year deal this week. McCarthy has some familiarity with Kearse from coaching against him while in Green Bay. Kearse played in Detroit last year and in Minnesota the previous four seasons.
The Cowboys also agreed to terms with veteran safety Damontae Kazee on a one-year deal Thursday night. Kazee is the front-runner to be Dallas’ starting free safety as long as he’s fully healthy. An Achilles injury ended his season last year after only four games, but he had 10 interceptions over the previous two seasons with the Falcons while playing for Quinn. Kearse is likely to be used for depth at safety and as a significant contributor on special teams.
“You look at the way he’s played at Minnesota and Detroit, it’s definitely, his ability to cover tight ends jumps off the film at you,” McCarthy said of the 6-4, 215-pound Kearse. “You see him in person, he’s a lot taller and longer than you think he is. It’s embarrassing when you hug another man and you feel like he just swallows you up. That’s a tough task from where I am right now. He’s a long, athletic guy, I’ll tell you, he’s impressive.”
Jayron Kearse (Reinhold Matay / USA Today)
19. Offensive line. McCarthy focused on last year’s overwhelming number of injuries when talking about the position group. They should return to being one of the better units in the league if they can avoid losing their starting right tackle for 16 games, their starting left tackle for 14 games and their starting right guard for six games.
“When your starting offensive line lines up and plays 16 games in a row, you’re a good football team,” McCarthy said. “When the line of scrimmage is stable and there’s a consistency there, your opportunity for success is heightened around it. That’s just my belief. Statistically, if you look it up, the health of the offensive line in accordance with the wins and losses of the team definitely reflect. They coincide.
“We just got to get healthy, frankly, on the offensive line. Our veteran tackles look good. I’m looking forward to lining up and playing with those guys. That was one of the big attractions of the job, frankly, a year and a half ago. You can’t have enough. We felt like we had really good numbers coming into the season, but hit one of those years where the tackle position was under siege with injuries.”
20. Way-too-early Week 1 starting lineup. With Kazee being added to the mix, the projected starting lineup is beginning to take shape. Here’s a way-too-early Week 1 possibility.
Offense
QB: Dak Prescott
RB: Ezekiel Elliott
WR: Amari Cooper
WR: CeeDee Lamb
WR: Michael Gallup
TE: Blake Jarwin
LT: Tyron Smith
LG: Connor Williams
C: Tyler Biadasz
RG: Zack Martin
RT: La’el Collins
Defense
DE: DeMarcus Lawrence
DT: Trysten Hill
DT: Neville Gallimore
DE: Randy Gregory
LB: Jaylon Smith
LB: Leighton Vander Esch
LB: Keanu Neal
CB: Patrick Surtain II
CB: Trevon Diggs
S: Donovan Wilson
S: Damontae Kazee
