Prescott and McCarthy have battled the fires of scrutiny that come with being the quarterback and head coach of the Cowboys for the past five seasons together.
When McCarthy took the Dallas job in 2020, Prescott’s season ended early and in gruesome fashion with a broken ankle. Prescott’s season once more ended prematurely this year with a hamstring injury, but he’s hoping this isn’t how it all ends for him and McCarthy, though it’s all the more painful having no ability to alter his coach’s fortune on the field.
“Your coach seems like he’s playing on his last contract and [I’m] almost feeling helpless like I can’t help him in this situation, especially a guy you believe in so much and you believe in being your head coach,” Prescott said. “Control what I can control, help and support Mike to every extent that I can.”
Forced to watch Cowboys games from the sideline or booth with a massive brace on his surgically repaired leg, Prescott’s doing what he can to help McCarthy’s plight.
Together, Prescott and McCarthy helped to put together three straight 12-5 regular seasons from 2021-2023, but a combined 1-3 postseason record. The most damaging of those three losses was last season’s upset loss to the Green Bay Packers, McCarthy’s former squad, in the wild-card round.
Speculation ran rampant that McCarthy could be ousted, but he was retained for 2024 — the final season of his contract.
Back in 2020, Prescott’s season ended after five games. Dallas went 2-3 in that span with Prescott playing exceptionally. This year, the Cowboys got out to a better start at 3-2, but then hit an iceberg in the form of a five-game losing streak.
It can be debated until the sun grows cold — or is shaded from AT&T Stadium — just why the Cowboys have struggled during their 5-7 campaign. Prescott, Micah Parsons, DaRon Bland and Demarcus Lawrence are among those who’ve dealt with serious injuries. The Cowboys did little to reload the roster this past offseason. And, of course, plenty of blame has been tossed at McCarthy.
Right now, the Cowboys are riding back-to-back wins into a Monday night matchup with the likewise-underperforming Cincinnati Bengals. They believe a playoff run could still happen.
Jones has been adamant he’s no fan of making an in-season coaching change, so it would seem that regardless of how Monday’s game and beyond go, McCarthy is staying put through 2024 with plenty left to prove.
Looking ahead to 2025 when he makes his return, Prescott’s let it be known that he hopes he’ll have the same play-caller and head coach riding into a new season with him.