FRISCO, Texas — Maybe the first sign of trouble for the Dallas Cowboys came in training camp.
On a beautiful, cloudless late-August day in Oxnard, California, a fire started in a player’s hotel room as the team got ready for an afternoon walk-through. The room and the player’s belongings were destroyed.
“It’s the beauty of the National Football League. When you think you’ve seen it all, sometimes things like this happen,” coach Mike McCarthy said a day later. “It’s a very unfortunate situation. Thankful no one was hurt.”
In the three months since, as the Cowboys’ season has deteriorated into a 3-6 record going into Monday’s game against the Houston Texans (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABC), there have been a series of when-you-think-you’ve-seen-it-all moments.
Individually, maybe they don’t mean much. Collectively, they help paint a picture of a season gone awry. At the start of the season, the Cowboys had the fourth-best chance to make the Super Bowl in the NFC, according to ESPN Analytics.
With eight games remaining, they have a 0.2% chance.
“There’s opportunities that come in front of you,” tight end Jake Ferguson said, “and while you still may have lost some games, it’s not ‘burn the tape.’ It’s ‘watch and learn from it and then move on to the next.'”
Where outsiders might see chaos and misery, McCarthy sees consistency in the message.
“I would say this: The reality of what goes on inside the locker room and coaching operation has been very consistent,” McCarthy said. “I think like all of this — it’s been like this my whole career — when things don’t go the way you want them to go, you knuckle down and go a little harder.
“That’s the only thing I’ve seen. We’ve put a lot of time and energy in this. Not only on a daily basis in-season. This goes back to April. I haven’t seen anything change.”
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McCarthy can cite GPS numbers (from chips players have in their uniforms) to compare last season’s practices to this one’s, which are as high or higher when computing a player’s workload.
“Regardless of what happens the week before, something else can change for the good or the bad,” cornerback Jourdan Lewis said. “So we can’t look at it like everything is falling downhill.”
But how many other teams have lost a player to jury duty this season?
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 picked to serve on a jury for a felony case. Although he was willing to serve, he figured he would not get picked because of his celebrity status.
Yet he was.
In order to get his work in after he was done in the courtroom, Aubrey came to The Star at around 7 p.m. On the first day, he was unable to kick indoors because there was an event inside Ford Center. On the second, the stadium was hosting a high school football game.
Aubrey, holder Bryan Anger and long-snapper Trent Sieg, as well as special teams coordinator John Fassel, had to work in almost complete darkness on the outdoor fields. They got some help from floodlights and the 19,200 lights shining down from Volume, the sculpture hanging from the ceiling in the lobby of The Star.
Making matters worse, the sprinklers came on as he was about to kick.
“It’s tough to see when you’re kicking in the dark. You can’t really see where you’re kicking. And for Bryan, in particular, trying to catch the snaps, he had a hard time at first tracking the ball and hitting the spot,” Aubrey said.
“It makes my job harder, especially when I can’t see what spot he’s put the ball down on very well. So, it was a lot harder, but really just wanted to get the leg moving 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.
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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 clean-out procedure and is just now coming close to practicing fully.
On Oct. 13, the Cowboys lost to the Detroit Lions 47-9. It was the worst home loss since Jones purchased the team in 1989. It also came on his 82nd birthday. Two days later, Jones appeared to threaten the jobs of the hosts on 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 struck by a rising barricade as it entered Levi’s Stadium. Charlotte Jones and Jerry Jones Jr. were examined by the team’s medical staff before the game. Shy Anderson Jr., Jerry’s grandson and a Cowboys scout, was also in the vehicle.
Some 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 television 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 final game for the Cowboys, he was welcomed back.
“We have rules. You run red lights. You do things like that. I can’t emphasize enough what an exemplary teammate that Zeke is, and I want to be real clear about that,” Jerry Jones said after the game. “But in my mind, he’s what a football player 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 a season and including $231 million guaranteed.
Then there was last week’s 34-6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, when 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 net yards passing and turned the ball over five times.
It was hardly the way McCarthy wanted to celebrate his 61st birthday.
It was the second straight home game the Cowboys did not score a touchdown. They might have had one if not for the blinding sun pouring through the windows at AT&T Stadium. Pro Bowl wide receiver CeeDee Lamb lost a ball in the sun coming through the west end zone in the second quarter. A touchdown would have given the Cowboys a lead and perhaps changed the trajectory 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 the damn stadium down and build another one. You kidding me?” Jones said.
When McCarthy addressed the media the next day, a local television photographer placed a scrim to block the sunlight coming through the windows of the news conference room at The Star.
“Is that for the sun?” McCarthy asked, leading to a room full of laughter.
“I just couldn’t help myself,” the coach smirked.
A few seconds later, McCarthy was asked about linebacker Micah Parsons‘ comments following the game that seemed 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 pick 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 unlawful carrying of a weapon, which led to a three-game suspension this season.
And they still went 12-5.
Maybe the Cowboys aren’t 3-6 solely because of all of the when-you-think-you’ve-seen-it-all moments, but they have not helped.
“There has certainly been a lot. Whether it’s more than some of the North Dallas Forty years or the White House years, not sure about that,” said Brad Sham, the Cowboys’ play-by-play voice for 46 seasons. “But losing has a lot to do with it.
“If they’re winning, Parsons’ podcast is a blip. Diggs doesn’t come after a reporter for a tweet. Jerry’s not 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.”
