Cowboys reality show continues into locker room after 34-6 loss to Eagles

Dallas suffered its fourth straight loss on Sunday, losing at home to division rival Philadelphia, 34-6. And after the Eagles shut out the Cowboys in the second half, the Dallas reality show continued into the postgame locker room. Asked about the future of head coach Mike McCarthy, linebacker Micah Parsons was brutally honest.

“You know, that’s above my pay grade about if Mike is coaching again next year,” said Parsons after missing four games with a high-ankle sprain. “But all coaching aside, Mike can leave and go wherever he wants but the guys I kind of feel bad for is guys like Zack Martin and guys who might be on their last year or on their way out. Because that’s who I want to hold the trophy for. You know, you want to win games and do great things with those types of legends who put in more time and work than Mike McCarthy ever did. So those are the kinds of guys that I have so much sympathy and hurt for.”

Feeling for veteran teammates who’ve sacrificed their bodies for 170 NFL games, as Martin has, is understandable. After all, players like Martin likely won’t be able to continue their NFL careers five years from now, while coaches theoretically can continue to coach over longer careers. But regardless of what Parsons intended with his curious choice of words directed at his head coach, perception is reality and his comments were not perceived well. Coaches spend countless hours game-planning at the facility, away from families. Parsons set an example for what not to say in that situation.

Regarding the larger situation, Jerry Jones reiterated a point he’s made before regarding McCarthy’s future.

“I don’t believe we’ll make a coaching change during the season,” Jones said following the loss.

Whether Dallas fires McCarthy during the season or after the season, the unfiltered comments from Parsons appear to stem from deeper problems in the locker room.

“I know Micah Parsons shouldn’t have done that,” Stephen A. Smith said Monday morning on ESPN’s First Take. “I know that. But in the same breath we’re not going to ask ourselves why. We’re going to just sit up there and look at his words and take it at face value and just act like this dude that missed the previous four games is just going to come out of his mouth his first game back and is really going to disrespect the coach like that. Isn’t it an indication of something else that’s going on that’s eroding before our very eyes in Big D?”

Known for trolling the Cowboys (3-6) over their lack of postseason success, Smith’s critique might be taken with a grain of salt. But in this case, he could have a point because Parsons’ postgame honesty certainly wasn’t the first sign of the Cowboys unraveling.

Last week after sustaining a hamstring injury at Atlanta, quarterback Dak Prescott was caught on the sideline mouthing his own critique of his team. Now, Prescott appears headed for injured reserve.

Continuously in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, the Cowboys can’t seem to get out of their own way and opportunities that existed two weeks ago have quickly evaporated. The reality show gets a primetime spotlight next week when Dallas hosts Houston (6-3) on Monday Night Football (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN).

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