Jerry Jones gushes about Mike McCarthy after the Cowboys upset the Bucs

On By Littum

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones skipped through the tunnel on his way to the locker room with a big smile on his face after 26-24. He put coach Mike McCarthy in a bear hug in the locker room.

Jones was downright giddy.

“Mike McCarthy, he just won’t let them not think they’re playing for the Super Bowl out there. He won’t let them do it. Proud of it. Proud of the coach,” Jones said.

The Cowboys were eliminated from the playoffs before kickoff. They didn’t talk about it as a team, but they knew it.

Yet they still won against a team that needed to win to stay at the top of its division.

“There’s a lot of things that have gone into us sitting here, not in the playoffs, and you can start with me,” Jones said. “I don’t try to be any other way than that many people contribute to it when you win. Many people contribute to it when you don’t. But, boy, give me that kind of effort, that kind of professionalism. Those guys came out and played like they were fighting in the championship to go to the Super Bowl. I can’t tell you how proud I am of them and the coaching staff. That really shows me something.”

Jones repeatedly praised McCarthy in his five-minute postgame press conference.

McCarthy is in the final year of his contract, but it now seems more likely that he will return than it did six weeks ago or six months ago. However, McCarthy also has an influence on his future as he is not under contract until 2025.

Jones said he doesn’t have “anything I want to share” about what will happen at the season finale in two weeks.

McCarthy is 49-33 in the regular season in five seasons with the Cowboys, but just 1-3 in the postseason.

“Mike is an excellent coach,” Jones said. “I’m proud that they were rewarded and the team is playing at that level because he’s got them trained to play at that level, although you realize when you’re not in the playoffs you can’t get to that big, but he has this team (that plays hard). It’s as good an emotional performance, an effort, as I’ve seen us have. I don’t know what to compare it to.”