Zeke on Cowboys Crisis: ‘Look in the Mirror’
FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys are, to a certain extent, doing what losing teams do: People here inside The Star are venting ... and their disgruntlement is leaking into the media.
Cowboys running back and team leader Ezekiel Elliott has a solution.
“We need to keep that kind of stuff in house,'' Zeke said in a Wednesday midday presser with DFW media. "Everyone look in the mirror, see what’s going on, fix that and we’ll be better.”
Of course, "everybody'' doesn't just mean the grousing players; at 2-4, the mistake-prone (and admittedly injury-plagued) Cowboys are where they are, as we've reported often, in part due to what we've termed a "disconnect'' between the new coaching staff led by Mike McCarthy and his players.
Jane Slater of NFL Network offered specific quotes. ... On the coaching staff being "totally unprepared. They don’t teach. They don’t have any sense of adjusting on the fly.'' And, "they just aren’t good at their jobs.“
McCarthy's response, from a pair of conference calls with reporters, is largely about a pledge to make sure he's listening to what he called the "negativity.''
“I think you do have to recognize it,'' he said. "I’ve always stated that . . . it’s important to handle things as men. I mean, if you do have something to say publicly that is of most important, I think it’s important to say it to the individual, or particularly in a group dynamic setting, especially in the game of football, especially for the Dallas Cowboys.''
READ MORE: Cowboys Players: 'Our Coaches Aren't Good At Their Jobs'
READ MORE: Cowboys' McCarthy Responds to Players: 'Talk To Me'
As CowboysSI.com has reported, assorted players had already expressed some of these views to the coaching staff. And still, the problems remain in place.
In the end, though, one of Elliott's points is irrefutable: The Cowboys, from top to bottom, need to concern themselves less with covering their butts and with finger-pointing. A look in the mirror would demonstrate to all - coaches and players - just how much blame there is to go around, and just how much teamwork it's going to take to repair the damage.
