Mike McCarthy: Cowboys Need to 'Stay the Course' amid 3-6 Record, Injury Woes

Sam Hodde/ Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy preached calm as the team attempts to turn around its season.

"We just need to stay the course and make sure we're giving the players what they need, and putting them in positions to be successful, and just keep working on our execution," McCarthy said, per ESPN's Todd Archer .

Staying the course has been a consistent theme from the head coach and his staff this year.

Maybe that message resonates with the Cowboys players, but it's probably not what the fans want to hear when Dallas is 3-6 and riding a four-game losing streak. Archer also pointed out the offense is averaging the fewest points and yards per play for a team coached by McCarthy.

There's little reason to think some positive regression is right around the corner.

Dak Prescott is out for the season, so McCarthy is left to lean on Cooper Rush or Trey Lance at quarterback. The Cowboys can't exactly emphasize the rushing game to compensate, either, because they're 31st in average yards on the ground (83.7). On the other side of the ball, the defense has gone backward after Mike Zimmmer replaced the outgoing Dan Quinn in the offseason.

A 34-6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles might've offered a glimpse into Dallas' short-term future. Rush and Trey Lance combined to go 17-of-29 through the air for 49 yards and an interception, while the Philly offense went for 348 total yards and had more than twice as many first downs (24) as its opponent (11).

In defense of McCarthy, any coach would struggle to deal with the hand he has been dealt, and publicly undermining his players probably wouldn't achieve anything. At the same time, his comments underscore how the Cowboys are stuck with a lame-duck coach who will almost certainly be out of a job in a few months.

No franchise probably wants to turn the page to 2025 more because there isn't much to get excited about in Dallas the rest of the way.