ARLINGTON – The Dallas Cowboys didn’t extend head coach Mike McCarthy for 2024 for an understandable reason: It would’ve been an unmerited reward for having gotten blown out by the Packers in the playoffs.

More recently, as the lame-duck coach and an owner who is supervising a “Blow It Up” plan for this season in preparation to load up in 2025 have discussed the situation, McCarthy is making a case for trying to keep his cool. …

And owner Jerry Jones is making a case for trying to keep his coach through the year.

And yes, that even goes for right now, after a 34-6 thrashing at the hands of the Eagles here at AT&T Stadium on Sunday.

Jones’ latest review of it all? After the game, he issued yet another pledge to not fire McCarthy in-season.

Nevertheless, there is a chorus in Cowboys Nation calling for Jones to fire McCarthy … some of it coming, frankly, from media members who are not plugged into the situation.

Speculation from (relative) media outsiders (like PFT’s Mike Florio) say they can envision a firing. No disrespect to Florio, but when he writes, “Jones has said he won’t fire coach Mike McCarthy during the season … That doesn’t mean Jones won’t do it”? He’s doing so without any first-hand knowledge to power his belief. He’s just … saying it.

Our view after covering Jerry Jones’ Cowboys as a beat writer for 35 years? It’ll take three things to nudge Jerry toward firing McCarthy during the season. One, are they out of the playoff chase? Two, is weekly embarrassment too much to endure. And three, has McCarthy lost the ear of the players in the locker room.”

That would create the perfect storm for a firing of McCarthy. But as long as Jones insists it’s not happening, even now at 3-6? Everybody else’s “reporting” amounts to nothing more than random guessing.