Mccarthy says ‘we’re going to win this game’
FRISCO — Mike Mccarthy returned to The Star Thursday after COVID forced him into a 10-day exile.
He came in firing. Midway through a 24minute news conference, the Cowboys’ head coach casually declared that his team is going to beat Washington on Sunday.
“We’re going to win this game,” Mccarthy said, tucked into a longer answer about the Cowboys’ offensive struggles at the moment. “I’m confident in that.”
As declarations go, this didn’t rival Jimmy Johnson’s famous guarantee heading into the NFC Championship Game in 1994 that the Cowboys would beat San Francisco, punctuating his point by saying, “You can put it in 3-inch headlines.” Mccarthy wasn’t nearly as brash.
That doesn’t mean it wasn’t as calculated.
Mccarthy hammers home the importance of December football with his players at every opportunity. That takes on an even greater premium this season since four of the team’s final five games are against teams in the NFC East.
“I think you have to have a singular mindset every week, especially in division games,” Mccarthy said. “With four division games in five weeks, this is all that matters.
“We have the opportunity to be 3-0 in our division when we walk off the field Sunday.”
The Cowboys face Washington twice in the next three weeks. Mccarthy showed his players clips from the Dallas-washington rivalry dating back to the 1970s in Thursday’s team meeting to give them some context.
Mccarthy began his NFL career under Marty Schottenheimer in the early 1990s. The Kansas City coach placed a tremendous importance on division games, particularly against the Raiders.
Any bulletin board material that comes out of hyping a matchup doesn’t concern Mccarthy.
“I don’t spend any time on it, frankly,” Mccarthy said. “With respect to your jobs, I think it’s a waste of time. I just think if we have to worry about print and things like that.
“I’m more focused on the real stuff. I think it’s important to go through the week and identify how the opponents are going to play you and things you’re expecting. But by Friday, they’re just plain faces to me.
“We’re about winning, doing the things we need to do to win. Just stay on the details for what we need to do to improvement. To me, that’s enough work.” And what about him providing Washington with bulletin board material?
“I mean, what am I supposed to say?” Mccarthy asked. “I fully expect to win every game I’ve ever competed in. That’s what sports is all about.
“Trust me, I understand how hard it is. They’re working hard, we’re working hard. But we’re clearly planning on going to Washington to win the game.
“There’s no doubt about that.”
Parsons limited; Pollard up in air
Cowboys rookie Micah Parsons was limited in Thursday’s practice with a hip injury.
It’s the first time the linebacker has shown up on the team’s official injury report this season.
Running back Tony Pollard said his status will be a game-time decision. Pollard has plantar fasciitis, a foot injury that occurred on his 58-yard touchdown run last week against the New Orleans Saints.
“I kind of picked my foot up a little higher and then when I put it down and pushed off I kind of felt a little tear in my plantar fasciitis,” said Pollard, who did not practice Thursday but did some work with trainers on the side. “That was the reason for such limited touches after that play. Because of the foot and dealing with it after that.”
The injury is improving, Pollard said, but he still has pain walking on it. Ezekiel Elliott has been dealing with a knee injury for more than a month
“They say once you tear it, it actually heals better and you don’t feel it as much,” he said. “So I’m waiting until I get to that point.”