Dak Prescott injury makes Mike McCarthy’s hot seat scorching
“You’ve obtained to be kidding me.”
That gave the impression to be Mike McCarthy’s response on the sector when he first discovered that Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a extreme thumb damage late Sunday as Dallas was getting handily overwhelmed by Tampa Bay.
McCarthy entered this season on the new seat in Dallas after the Cowboys have been upset at house within the first spherical of the playoffs by the 49ers in January.
The expectations for this season weren’t merely a visit to the postseason — however playoff victories.
The trail to that aim turns into that a lot tougher with Prescott reportedly slated to overlook six-to-eight weeks. Till then, it is going to be Cooper Rush at quarterback for the Cowboys.
McCarthy-coached groups have struggled previously when his star quarterbacks have gone down.
The most recent instance got here in 2020, McCarthy’s first season in Dallas. After Prescott suffered a season-ending ankle damage within the workforce’s fifth recreation, the Cowboys went 4-7 within the length of the season, in the end ending the yr with a 6-10 document.
In 2017, when McCarthy was teaching the Packers, Inexperienced Bay was 4-1 getting into an Oct. 15 matchup towards the Vikings. Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone, and the Packers misplaced that recreation. The Packers did have a glimmer of hope to salvage a postseason berth when Rodgers returned for a Week 15 recreation towards the Panthers, however they misplaced that one and Rodgers was then shut down for the remainder of the yr.
There was hypothesis the Cowboys may half with McCarthy after final yr’s devastating loss to the Niners, however Jerry Jones opted to carry the pinnacle coach again for a 3rd season with the workforce.
In July, Jones gave McCarthy the dreaded vote of confidence.
“I wish to be actual clear: He wouldn’t be sitting right here immediately if I didn’t suppose he was the person to steer this workforce to a Tremendous Bowl,” the Cowboys owner said. “He wouldn’t be. And I’ve decisions (that) have been there for my use had I wished them.”
With Sean Payton — a Tremendous Bowl-winning coach in New Orleans, and a former Cowboys assistant who has repeatedly been linked speculatively to Jones through the years — sitting on the market as a free agent, the strain is on for McCarthy and the Cowboys to string collectively some wins with out Prescott and stay in believable playoff competition for his return.
