Disaster cowboy season: From jury duty to blinding sun

On By Littum

McCarthy can cite GPS numbers (from chips players have in their uniforms) to compare last season’s practices to this one, which are as high or higher when calculating a player’s workload.

“No matter what happens the week before, something else can change for the better or the worse,” cornerback Jourdan Lewis said. “So we can’t look at it as if everything is going downhill.”

Brandon Aubrey, the Cowboys’ All-Pro kicker, missed a week of scheduled practice before the Oct. 27 game against the San Francisco 49ers because he was selected to serve on a jury for a felony case. Although he was willing to serve, he figured he would not be chosen because of his celebrity status.

Yet he was.

To get his work in after he finished in the courtroom, Aubrey came to The Star around 19. On the first day, he was unable to kick indoors because there was an event inside the Ford Center. On the other, the stadium hosted a high school football game.

Aubrey, owner Bryan Anger and long snapper Trent Sieg, as well as special teams coordinator John Fassel, had to work in near-total darkness on the outfield. They had a little help from floodlights and the 19,200 lights shining down from Volume, the sculpture hanging from the ceiling of The Star’s lobby.

To make matters worse, the sprinklers came on as he was about to kick.

“It’s hard to see when you’re kicking in the dark. You can’t really see where you’re kicking. And especially for Bryan, when he was trying to catch the snaps, he initially had a hard time tracking the ball and hitting the spot,” Aubrey said.

“It makes my job more difficult, especially when I can’t see where he has put the ball very well. So it was a lot more difficult, but really just wanted to get the leg going and keep the body fresh for game day.”

Aubrey connected on his lone field goal attempt against the 49ers and was 3-of-3 on extra points.

But jury duty wasn’t the only out-of-the-ordinary moment this season.

After the Cowboys’ Sept. 26 win against the New York Giants, wide receiver Brandin Cooks stayed in New York to receive an injection for an ailing knee. He developed an infection that required a cleansing procedure and is just now close to fully practicing.

On October 13, the Cowboys lost to the Detroit Lions 47-9. It was the worst home loss since Jones bought the team in 1989. It also came on his 82nd birthday. Two days later, Jones appeared to threaten the hosts’ jobs at 105.3 The Fan in Dallas during one of his two weekly appearances.

Before the Cowboys played the 49ers, the second vehicle taking some of owner Jerry Jones’ family to the game was hit by a rising barricade as it entered Levi’s Stadium. Charlotte Jones and Jerry Jones Jr. was examined by the team’s medical staff before the match. Shy Anderson Jr., Jerry’s grandson and a Cowboys scout, was also in the vehicle.

About four hours later, the Cowboys lost to the 49ers 30-24. Cornerback Trevon Diggs came out of the locker room in full uniform to confront a TV reporter about an in-game social media post that questioned the cornerback’s effort. A few days later, Diggs apologized.

Before the next game, Ezekiel Elliott was ruled inactive against the Atlanta Falcons for disciplinary reasons and did not make the trip. While some wondered if Elliott had played his last game for the Cowboys, he was welcomed back.

“We have rules. You run a red light. That’s how you do things. I can’t stress enough what an exemplary teammate Zeke is, and I want to be clear about that,” Jerry Jones said after the game. “But in my mind he is what a footballer is all about.”

During the Falcons game — a 27-21 loss — Dak Prescott suffered what turned out to be a season-ending injury: a partial avulsion of his right hamstring that required surgery to repair. This came two months after the Cowboys made Prescott the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history with a four-year extension averaging $60 million per season and including $231 million guaranteed.

Then there was last week’s 34-6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, in which the Cowboys became the first team in NFL history to trail by at least 20 points in five straight home games. With Cooper Rush replacing Prescott, Dallas had 49 passing yards and turned the ball over five times.

This was hardly how McCarthy wanted to celebrate his 61st birthday.

It was the second consecutive home game the Cowboys did not score a touchdown. They might have had one if not for the blinding sun pouring through the windows of AT&T Stadium. Pro Bowl wide receiver CeeDee Lamb dropped a ball in the sun that came through the west end zone in the second quarter. A touchdown would have given the Cowboys a lead and perhaps changed the course of the game.

After the loss, Jones was incredulous when asked if curtains would ever be used at AT&T Stadium.

“Well, let’s just tear down the damn stadium and build another one. Are you doing with me?” Jones said.

When McCarthy addressed the media the next day, a local television photographer put up a scrim to block the sunlight coming through the windows of the news conference room at The Star.

“Is it for the sun?” McCarthy asked, leading to a room full of laughter.

“I just couldn’t help myself,” smiled the coach.

A few seconds later, McCarthy was asked about linebacker Micah Parsons’ postgame comments that appeared to question the coach’s work ethic. He said he met with Parsons and that Parsons’ intent was to show sympathy for veteran teammate Zack Martin, a seven-time first-team All-Pro selection who has won three playoff games in his time with the Cowboys.

“Conversations bring resolution,” McCarthy said. “I think this is an example of that.”

Throughout their history, from coach Tom Landry to Jimmy Johnson to Bill Parcells, the Cowboys have had a lot of when-you-think-you’ve-seen-it-all moments.

Just last year, the Cowboys lost running backs coach Jeff Blasko for a number of weeks for personal reasons and saw defensive end Sam Williams charged with possession of a controlled substance and the illegal carrying of a weapon, leading to a three-game suspension. season.

They still went 12-5.

And when they tried to open the roof of AT&T Stadium just hours before Monday night’s game, a piece of metal fell onto the field. No one was hurt, but they will now play with the roof closed.

Maybe the Cowboys aren’t 3-6 solely because of all the when-you-think-you’ve-seen-it-all moments, but they haven’t helped.

“There’s definitely been a lot. Whether it’s more than some of the 40 years in North Dallas or the White House, I’m not sure,” said Brad Sham, the Cowboys’ play-by-play voice for 46 seasons . “But losing has a lot to do with it.

“If they win, Parsons’ podcast is a blip. Diggs isn’t coming after a reporter for a tweet. Jerry isn’t chewing out radio hosts or burning down the stadium. There’s always going to be something, but a year like this magnifies everything.

“Even jury duty.”