Mike McCarthy reacts to Jerry Jones calling out Cowboys over 'bad concepts' and 'bad plays'

Dallas Cowboys (3-3) head coach Mike McCarthy responded Wednesday to the comments made by Jerry Jones the day prior in which the team owner called him out for designing “bad plays” and “bad concepts.”

McCarthy said he talks routinely to Jones, “but I don’t think we have bad concepts and bad plays.”

“I don’t really have [a comment]. I talk to Jerry all the time,” McCarthy said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “We’ve had time to go through the self-scout. I didn’t see the comments specifically. But I don’t think we have bad concepts and bad plays, but I’ll go back and check.

“We’re not where we want to be. That’s clear, and that’s ultimately my responsibility and I’m fully aware of that. We’re very diligent. We’re on top of what we want to do.”

Jones made the comments during his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. He addressed at length the Cowboys’ struggles on offense.

Mike McCarthy, Cowboys searching for answers amid 3-3 start

“Our situation is more about frankly holding your blocks,” Jones said, via Pat Doney of NBC DFW. “It’s more about not making mistakes. It’s more about in my mind the receivers running through a tough man-to-man coverage and running on through it. The types of things we all think we should be looking at is we’re designing bad plays or we’re designing bad concepts.

“The facts are that there’s some of that, but there’s also some of execution, there’s some of the talent. I like our talent, I really do like our talent, I like our young talent and young talent has a few more mistakes associated with it than if you are dealing with a veteran player.”

Dallas had one of league’s best offenses over the past three seasons, and suddenly is averaging just 21.0 points per game. The once potent rushing attack has fallen well below standard, averaging 77.2 yards per game, worst in the NFL. While Dallas may not have the weapons it once had, the lack of a rushing attack has certainly hurt its overall effectiveness on offense.

It becomes a bigger question as to why the Cowboys did not take a longer look at Derrick Henry in free agency. Henry, who lives and trains in Dallas during the offseason, admitted he wanted to play for the Cowboys. He instead signed a two-year, $16 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens (5-2) this past offseason.

Jones revealed that Henry would not have fit under the team’s salary cap. Though the 30-year-old appears to be better than ever in Baltimore, Jones is not convinced he would be having the same success in Dallas.

“I don’t know if he’d be having a career year in our situation,” Jones said. “… We don’t run that type of offense at all. … Derrick Henry didn’t fit [because of] managing the [salary] cap.”