Maybe the biggest criticism a coach could receive in any sport is that he or she is unprepared.
And that's exactly the feedback Mike McCarthy appears to be getting from some of his Dallas Cowboys players.
The Cowboys slipped to 2-4 this season with Sunday's loss to the Arizona Cardinals. They already had been underachieving, and the loss of star quarterback Dak Prescott for the season is going to make things exceptionally more difficult.
Discontent within the locker room was made public after Dallas' Week 6 defeat, as unnamed Cowboys players were criticizing McCarthy and his staff for not being prepared.
McCarthy on Tuesday responded.
“Well, I mean, first off, I haven’t heard any of those type of discussions,” McCarthy said on a conference call, via ProFootballTalk. “I think like a lot of things when you hit a part of your season, or any challenge where there is negativity out there and where it comes from and who it comes from, that’s something that I’ve never chased. I think you do have to recognize it.
"I just really go back to my first meeting with the football team. I’ve always stated that . . . it’s important to handle things as men. I mean, if you do have something to say publicly that is of most important, I think it’s important to say it to the individual, or particularly in a group dynamic setting, especially in the game of football, especially for the Dallas Cowboys. I mean, that’s all part of the development our program, of the system that we’ve got going here. I think that’s just part of our flight right now. We don’t like the way we played last night. We had some areas that we struggled strong in. It’s definitely not what we’re looking for.”
McCarthy and his staff are, um, preparing for a matchup with the Washington Football Team on Sunday.
