Coach Mike McCarthy knew the Dallas Cowboys were approaching crisis mode on the field, given that the team is dealing with consecutive losses for the first time this season, and off the field with a rash of coaches and players testing positive for COVID-19.
He admittedly tried to his best to get ahead of the situation by checking himself to a hotel near the practice facility in hopes of protecting himself and his family as well staying on top of his job.
McCarthy learned what the rest of the world has come to grips with over the last two years of the global pandemic — that there is not much you can do once there is an outbreak in your organization.
The Cowboys are in a full-fledged COVID-19 flareup with eight players and staffers currently under pandemic protocols with McCarthy becoming the latest Cowboys staffer to test positive.
McCarthy, who said he has a scratchy throat but no other symptoms, found out a 7:10 a.m. Monday and told his players in a team meeting shortly after. He stressed the importance of staying focused on the game and staying vigilant about the virus.
“This threat is very real ... please do everything you can to keep yourself and your family safe,” McCarthy said he told his team. “I moved into the hotel Friday just because I felt like it was among us at work, particularly on the coaching staff. So I told them, ‘Hey, if it can get me it can get anybody.’ I’d like to think that I was super cautious and careful. I just think it shows you the danger of the pandemic and the virus.”
McCarthy will not make the trip to New Orleans for Thursday’s game against the 5-6 Saints.
Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 2015-20, will serve as the interim coach in Thursday’s game. Statistically, the contest isn’t a must-win game, but with the Cowboys (7-4) having already lost three of their last four there’s no denying the club is doesn’t have the swagger they did a month ago.
McCarthy will be involved in meetings and game preparations on virtual basis for the rest of the week. The Cowboys will practice at The Star, but will do everything else virtually. The team is not allowed in weight room. Players will work out on their own this week, if at all.
McCarthy said having Quinn take over in his absence was a protocol the team had set before the season because of his past head coaching experience.
He called this one of the tough spots he’s even been a part of because of the team’s slide, the COVID-19 outbreak and three games in 12 days. The Cowboys lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 19-9, on Nov. 21, four days before their 36-33 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Raiders on Thanksgiving.
McCarthy has never missed a game or practice in his career due to an illness, but he expects his team to be ready to play and rise to the challenge.
“I think it’s time to keep priorities and perspective in order and our healthy football team will be out there and they’ll be ready to go,” McCarthy said. “I do have great confidence in that. I have great trust in our process and the program that we have in place over there and in trust in that and I know the players do. And like I said, we’ll be ready to go on Thursday night.”
McCarthy’s positive test comes of the heels of right tackle Terence Steele and four more assistant coaches testing positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.
The Cowboys are currently without offensive line coach Joe Philbin; assistant offensive line coach Jeff Blasko; offensive coaching assistant Scott Tolzien; and strength and conditioning coaches Harold Nash, Cedric Smith and Kendall Smith. The latter two tested positive last week.
Quarterback Dak Prescott said it was strange not having McCarthy at practice. And he said the team is going to miss McCarthy on the sideline against the Saints, but he also believes they have the right people in place to handle the challenge against the Saints.
“The coaches have done a great job putting us in a routine and giving us a foundation,” Prescott said. “And we got great leaders and great coaches and coordinators that are going to do a great job in stepping up. We are going to miss coach but his health is first and foremost important. We will fight and get everything done that we need to.”
Prescott said didn’t need McCarthy’s positive test to know that the pandemic “is real.”
“It is not something we can take light or let up on. It is very real,” Prescott said.
That is certainly McCarthy’s attitude.
He said he has no symptoms other than the scratchy throat, which he had attributed to yelling in the game last Thursday because of the number of plays and the team-record in penalty yardage.
McCarthy said his throat is sore after most games like that. It lingered a little while longer tha usual, but he was “very surprised that I tested positive.”
“I wanted to quarantine myself,” McCarthy explained in why checked into the hotel on Friday. “So just in the mindset of what was going on around us. And frankly, I was trying to kind of protect my family too. I was trying to keep this from not coming home and I didn’t. “
McCarthy thought he was getting out of front of the situation by staying at the hotel and he “didn’t succeed there, either.”
McCarthy said a couple members of his family tested positive for COVID-19 as well.
”This is definitely a reality check and health is the most important thing and COVID is real,” McCarthy said. “It’s very real. So I’m in-tune with that. You know, I spent a lot of time talking to different medical people in the industry and feel like I’m well-educated and know what’s out there and how to do it. I do understand the seriousness of it.”
The Cowboys have now had a total of 14 players and staffers in the COVID-19 protocol over the last three weeks, including running backs coach Skip Peete; kicker Greg Zuerlein; receiver Amari Cooper; tight end Blake Jarwin (injured reserve); and receivers Robert Foster (practice squad) and T.J. Vasher (reserve/non-football injury).
The Cowboys will now have had eight players miss at least a game this season with COVID-19: Steele; Cooper; Zuerlein; linebacker Keanu Neal; defensive ends Bradlee Anae and Randy Gregory; and guards Brandon Knight and Zack Martin. Knight is no longer with the team.
