Mike McCarthy is coaching Dak Prescott differently than he did Aaron Rodgers. What does that mean for Cowboys?
FRISCO, Texas — The conversation was brief and offhand but drew questions.
“Damn, Dak, see what you’re missing? A ‘mojo moment,’ ” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy told quarterback Dak Prescott in audio captured and aired on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” docuseries.
“Trust me,” Prescott replied, hands on his hips as a strained shoulder sidelined him from drills. “Nobody wants to be out there more than me.”
McCarthy slapped Prescott’s back gently: “I’m busting your balls, champ.”
The scene dissolved.
Questions surfaced among Cowboys fans: Was there a disconnect between coach and player? How exactly has McCarthy and Prescott’s relationship developed during a tumultuous 19 months as colleagues? Since McCarthy joined the Cowboys in January 2020, Prescott has faced a global pandemic, lengthy contract negotiations, the death of his brother to suicide, depression and anxiety, and the first serious injury of his pro career. Adversity has abounded. Chances to build a relationship in more typical settings have not.
“I mean think about it,” McCarthy said Thursday afternoon during a 45-minute sitdown with local beat writers. “You hardly know someone and think about some of your first, second and third phone calls you’re having with your new quarterback.”
The dynamic is drastically different from McCarthy’s previous coaching stops. Gone are the days when McCarthy was golfing with Chiefs quarterback Rich Gannon or meeting up with neighbor Brett Favre for mid-week meetings of the mind. McCarthy says Friday and Saturday meetings with Aaron Rodgers could last from 45 minutes to three hours long before a game. McCarthy’s time is now structured differently as he manages dozens of coaches, navigates changing COVID-19 protocols and attempts to instill a winning football culture amid the glitz and glamour of Jerry Jones’ Dallas Cowboys.
McCarthy’s approach differs from his predecessor, with Jason Garrett and Prescott competing in target-throwing games after each practice for four seasons. The Garrett-Prescott relationship was more evident to the public eye.
McCarthy believes that his decision to delegate play calls prompted another delegation: the closest coaching relationship with his quarterback.
“I'm very comfortable with where he and I stand,” McCarthy explained Thursday from a high-top table in a luxury suite overlooking his team’s practice fields. “But really, frankly, the most important relationship is that play-caller. Him and I have had this conversation 10 times: I'm more concerned about (Prescott’s) relationship with (offensive coordinator) Kellen (Moore) than my relationship with him.
“I love my relationship with Dak.”
‘I like prickly’
McCarthy knows what you might be thinking: How about his relationship with his last quarterback — the one with whom he hoisted a Lombardi Trophy, the one whom he coached for 13 years before an unceremonious split?
McCarthy acknowledges the narratives chronicling a “prickly” relationship with defending league MVP Aaron Rodgers: The disagreements on management, Rodgers’ alleged on-field changes of play-calls and divergent personnel philosophies. Their lengthy joint tenure lends “definitely some ammunition to fuel that storyline,” McCarthy says. Pittsburgh native McCarthy and Californian Rodgers became an odd couple.
“I like prickly,” McCarthy said. “That’s part of where we grew up. Conflict is good. I was glad that somebody finally told me that because I was like, ‘(Expletive), that describes Pittsburgh. OK, I’m not screwed up.’ But yeah, he is an interesting cat. He’s as eclectic and intelligent of a guy as I’ve ever worked with. Obviously a great quarterback. But yeah, I liked our relationship.
“I think those stories grow sometimes.”
McCarthy believes personnel and health factors contributed to Green Bay’s sudden turnaround from 13-18-1 in McCarthy’s final two seasons to 26-6 with two conference championship game appearances in his absence. And for now, as he enters Year 2 in Dallas, McCarthy is more focused on the pride he takes in contributing to Rodgers’ development. He aims to translate lessons garnered from working with greats like Rodgers to best position Prescott for success and growth.
“The reason why Kellen Moore was given the opportunity he was given is because I wanted to continue the advancement of Dak Prescott,” McCarthy said. “That's why I gave (play-calling) up. I saw Joe Montana stay in a very similar offense his whole career. I watched Brett Favre stay, and I watched Aaron Rodgers do the same. I think that's a huge, huge component. I don't want Dak to have a new language. I don't want Dak to have to change his footwork every time a play goes in. He has four years of starting ability.
"We need to build off of that."
The process for building off Prescott’s foundation has pivoted sharply from what McCarthy intended when he was hired Jan. 7, 2020 by the Cowboys. At the scouting combine soon after, McCarthy detailed his plans for incorporating Prescott into his decision-making. He had outlined a three-step plan for finalizing the Cowboys’ 2020 offensive system that included breaking down the Cowboys’ previous season tape, merging it with best concepts from his Packers coaching days and finally, converting the principles into an installation format.
But McCarthy was most excited to review the plan with Prescott.
“You want it tight for when the quarterbacks come back,” McCarthy explained over lunch in Indianapolis on Feb. 25, 2020. “You always want to go through it once with the quarterbacks because they are going to ask the best questions. There are usually things that come up in that first time through that you are able to tweak before you put the offense in.
“We still may have time to do that.”
Operations across the league were virtual mere weeks later, offseason installations devoid of on-site interaction. Prescott, who was not under contract until he signed his franchise tender in late June, did not fully participate in virtual meetings. The Cowboys offense ultimately opened 2020 amassing significant yardage, which was wasted by turnovers and blown defensive coverages. Then, Oct. 11, Prescott lay on the field at AT&T Stadium with his ankle facing outward. The Cowboys cycled through four quarterbacks in five games. Their strength and conditioning coordinator died in November. Consistency never arrived.
“I was just thinking for a while there, I just didn’t know if it was going to stop,” McCarthy said of the challenges of the 2020 season. “6-10? Yeah, that leaves a dent. I don’t care what the circumstances are.”
'That’s how you win consistently'
The Cowboys arrived in Oxnard, California, on July 20 with reasons for optimism: Prescott’s surgically repaired ankle had healed sufficiently for him to integrate fully into competitive team drills. Vaccination rates among players were rising, the Cowboys’ COVID-19 plan sufficient to permit the California stay the pandemic had robbed in 2020. The Cowboys defense, which hit historic lows last season, was re-establishing energy and communication.
Players donned pads for the first time July 28.
Prescott never made it to team drills.
Instead, an atypical tightness and soreness in his throwing shoulder prompted an MRI. His latissimus muscle was strained, a baseball-like response to overuse. Cowboys trainers barred Prescott from throwing for weeks, and have now gradually been ramping up his work in individual drills. But he has yet to throw in team drills in a padded practice. He likely will not face a live rush before the Cowboys open at Tampa on Sept. 9.
Moore and Prescott have instead leaned into mental reps.
“What’s their front, what’s my declaration?” Moore explained Thursday. “Looking at what coverages are they in, do I need to make an adjustment here, is the play good?”
Again, it is Moore rather than McCarthy who’s most communicative with Prescott. Quarterbacks coach Doug Nussmeier weighs in and McCarthy moves between groups. Occasionally, post-practice chats between McCarthy and Prescott extend. A post-practice pow-wow that often lasted 10 to 15 minutes during California practices open to the media has stretched far longer, McCarthy said.
“One of our last nights in Oxnard, we stayed out there on the field for — God, I don't how long — an hour and a half after the jog-through,” McCarthy said. “I'm very comfortable with where he and I stand.”
McCarthy’s comfort is rooted less in direct communication than in a belief in who Prescott is and what he means to the Cowboys. McCarthy is confident in his ability to coach this Cowboys team to a Super Bowl, insisting he knows how to win it all and knows what type of quarterback that lofty goal necessitates.
“Not only what they do on Sundays, but what they do in practice during the week,” McCarthy said of his past top-tier quarterbacks. “They’re so competitive and they make the whole environment better. That’s how you win consistently.
“Dak is that for us. So that’s what I’m excited about.”
Follow Paste BN Sports’ Jori Epstein on Twitter: @JoriEpstein