Cowboys 'Surprise': Mike McCarthy as Coach of the Year? Jerry Jones' Opinion

“I don't want any credit, God forbid,'' Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy recently told us, smiling through fake outrage. "Let's not change that now.”

FRISCO - In his two-plus seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, Mike McCarthy has grown accustomed to not getting credit.

Is it because 12-5 last year wasn't good enough for Cowboys fans who think Super Bowls are a birthright?

Is it because high-profile owner Jerry Jones positions himself to hog all the credit (and blame)?

Is it because McCarthy has no interest in self-promotion? Or that with his Pittsburgh/Packers roots, he's not "one of us''? Or that this year's 3-1 start - engineered by the Cowboys coach without the help of injured franchise QB Dak Prescott - restricts the audience into wait-and-see mode?

“I don't want any credit, God forbid,'' McCarthy recently told us, smiling through fake outrage. "Let's not change that now.”

But he is getting some. Maybe begrudgingly in some quarters. But Dallas' first-month accomplishments are impossible to ignore. So ...

ESPN's Mike Greenberg says the Coach of the Year should be McCarthy. And Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says even more.

"It would be an injustice not to give him the kind of credit as head coach for getting this thing right and getting it to this point,'' Jones said. “I don’t know how you could say enough about how he’s handled this team initially starting out. It's like ... a boxer walking out and just getting hit with the best shot you absolutely could, right on the chin. First step out. 

"How do you get that all back together? Give him his due. He has managed to right the ship, steady it, and then progressively get this team in shape to play without Dak.''

Maybe the better way to say it all? Mike McCarthy should be NFL "Coach of the Month.'' How's that? Or does McCarthy - amid all of that offseason "hot seat'' talk - need any outside-the-building hugs when he has the support of ownership?

“It’s always nice when people say nice things about you,'' McCarthy said. "But ... my relationship with Jerry ... I’ve always enjoyed our conversations privately, and I’ll always have walked away from those conversations with a lot of confidence.

"And I think it’s good to have that type of relationship. So, my point is, he says nice things to me privately, too.”

Surely that wouldn't quite be the case if Dallas was something short of 3-1 entering Week 5's visit to the Rams. But right now? Jones isn't the only one saying "nice things.'' Cowboys watchers find themselves obliged to do the same ... begrudgingly.

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