What does Cowboys’ collapse mean for Mike McCarthy? Jerry Jones’ admission of regret sheds light on answer

ARLINGTON, Texas — Jerry Jones couldn’t hide his frustration.

The Dallas Cowboys’ fourth straight loss and fifth straight home loss was “not fun” and “isn’t pretty,” he said.

“There’s no joy here without winning games,” Jones said after the Cowboys’ 34-6 blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. “And I’m very regretful to our fans. Very.”

Jones’ regret will influence how he manages his spiraling 3-6 team. But don’t expect that regret to translate to an imminent decision on head coach Mike McCarthy.

Because the team owner, who is also the Cowboys general manager and chief decision-maker, has regret about his history there, too.

Jones values second chances and optimistic outlooks. He loves to mention the slim-but-not-yet-zero possibility that the storybook ending he seeks is still out there.

The times he’s acted rashly, or even arguably proportionally, he’s nonetheless carried guilt about his personnel moves.

“I don’t even understand not having hope,” he said.

Let’s explain.

Some may look at Jason Garrett’s 10-year tenure as generous in a league where coach and front office turnover is rampant. Garrett won 55.9% of games in those years (85-67 record), three times advancing to the playoffs. But the Cowboys’ 2-3 playoff record under Garrett never included a Super Bowl win or appearance or even an NFC title game appearance.

Even so, Jones is more comfortable with non-renewing Garrett 10 years in than he is with firing Wade Phillips after a 1-7 start in his fourth season. He fired Chan Gailey after an 18-14 tenure in the late 1990s too.

“I changed coaches in the season with Wade and have always regretted it,” Jones said Sunday night at AT&T Stadium as an open elevator door awaited him. “And as a matter of fact, I made a change with Chan Gailey after two years. I regretted that. That’s not enough. You need to give yourself a chance.

“I’ve had a lot more rope than that in my time. I haven’t had anybody pull it short on me.”

Jones’ outlook seems to indicate that McCarthy, who has won 46 of 76 regular-season games with Dallas (60.5%), will coach the remaining eight games of Dallas’ season.

But players know McCarthy’s coaching on the final year of his current Cowboys contract.

And their varied postgame comments reflected uncertainty about who will lead them next season.

“That’s above my pay grade [whether] Mike is coaching again next year,” edge rusher Micah Parsons said. “Coaching, Mike can leave and go wherever he wants. Guys I kind of feel bad for [are veteran right guard] Zack Martin and guys who might be on their last year or on their way out. Because that’s who I wanted to hold the trophy for.”

Teammates expressed the need to “fight” for McCarthy as long as he’s head coach.

But at least one of the team’s stars views a closing window in terms of the men in the locker room.

“You want to win games and do great things with those type of legends who put in more time and work than Mike McCarthy ever did,” Parsons said, without clarifying whether he was referring to Cowboys tenure alone. “Those are the kind of guys that I have so much sympathy and hurt for.”

Cowboys offense gave team no chance vs. Eagles

As the game clock mercifully waned, McCarthy knew the result was unacceptable. He also knew the recipe that delivered the 28-point loss was even more concerning than the score in a vacuum.

“You can’t win games turning the ball over five times — I don’t give a s*** who lines up,” McCarthy said. “We can’t turn it over and that’s something that these last two home games — our fans should be angry.

“That’s not what we’re about.”

For months now, especially at their home AT&T Stadium, lopsided losses filled with penalties and turnovers has been what the Cowboys are about.

Ever since the Green Bay Packers beat the Cowboys 48-32 at home in the wild-card game, Dallas has not broken the JerryWorld curse. The Cowboys, who were down 48-16 in the fourth quarter of that game, were the only home team who didn’t advance to the divisional round.

They’ve since lost at home to a similarly spiraling New Orleans Saints team, 44-19, and to the Baltimore Ravens 28-25. The Detroit Lions beat the Cowboys a whopping 47-9 … and the Eagles came to town for 34-6.

The Cowboys coughed up five turnovers to the Lions with Dak Prescott and five without him against the Eagles. Miscommunication, lack of discipline and pressing were already issues — and as Prescott recovers from a likely season-ending hamstring tear, those problems were exacerbated.

Turnovers came when Cowboys center Cooper Beebe and quarterback Cooper Rush botched a snap exchange, and when running back Ezekiel Elliott lost the ball as he plowed into the end zone. They came as Eagles edge rusher Bryce Huff strip-sacked Rush and as tight end Jake Ferguson attempted to grab a pass with one hand then fumbled it. Backup quarterback Trey Lance threw an interception to complete the gifting.

“It’s unacceptable,” McCarthy said. “You can’t sugarcoat that any way.”

And for the eighth straight game, the Cowboys could not score in the third quarter. Their trifecta of third-quarter three-and-outs allowed the Eagles’ lead to balloon from eight points to 22. The Eagles outscored the Cowboys 20-0 in the second half.

Rush and Lance combined to complete 17 of 29 pass attempts for 66 total yards.

“What are we doing at the half to pull the water out of the tub?” Jones said. “At the half, the third quarter? That really is the puzzle.

“I don’t know what we’re drinking in the third quarter as we come out. But it’s not working.”

Even optimistic Jones struggling to find Cowboys’ silver lining

Jones was testier than usual in his postgame interview, his public patience seeming to wane even as he preached actions that stayed the course.

When asked what a dismal passing day said about Prescott’s role with the team, Jones said he didn’t “want to be sarcastic, but do you got the same arithmetic I’ve got? We’ve won three games with Dak, OK? So I’m just saying: We weren’t playing well with Dak — at all.”

He sidestepped a question about Elliott on grounds of not wanting to “single anybody out” in the flop. “Rather than the rest [grading] Fs and Ds, somebody had a C-minus? Who cares about that?”

And on the role of coaching in the Cowboys loss, Jones said “everybody’s got a hand in this” including players, coaches and the front office. He didn’t want to blame the sun that blinded each team on some plays but he did want to otherwise spread around accountability.

“That’s no solace to somebody to step up here and say to the fans, ‘That’s my fault. I’ll take this one,’” Jones said. “What does that do? That doesn’t win the ball game. And so I’m not trying to put that B.S. out either.”

In all, while McCarthy talked at the podium and Cowboys players answered questions from a locker room devoid of music and chatter, the man most in charge of franchise-shaping decisions outlined criteria for evaluating his coach the rest of the season.

Jones wants to see not just what the teams’ results are but also “how we’re playing” and does the coaching staff give his players an edge. Are they competitive? Are they competitive when needing to rebound from a deficit?

All of this and more will factor in.

The Cowboys’ three straight 12-win seasons and playoff berths in McCarthy’s tenure will impact whether he receives an extension offer. Their dramatic playoff exits and current obstacles will be weighed, too.

“Mike’s a heck of a coach,” Jones said. “He’s a great coach in my mind [who] should have the opportunity to do better than we’re playing right now.

“So like I said, I haven’t had good experience changing coaches in the middle of the season.”

Cornerback Jourdan Lewis said the Cowboys would keep fighting in a season that somehow, some way, features eight more games to play.

“We’ve got to go out there, fight for him every day [and] translate it to the wins,” Lewis told Yahoo Sports. “At the end of the day, we’ve got to go out there and fight.

“Coach is still at the helm and we’ve got to fight for him.”

Positivity and light are key to that fighting spirit, Parsons said. He put his own spin on the message he heard at team chapel this weekend.

“Be the light,” Parsons said. “Even when it’s dark as f***, light up, bro.”