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Ron Rivera dismisses Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy’s guarantee: ‘I don’t think it’s important’

Ryan Young
Staff writer
·3 min read
35

Ron Rivera isn’t having Mike McCarthy’s guarantee.

The Washington Football Team coach dismissed his Dallas Cowboys counterpart’s unusual decision to guarantee that they would win the NFC East battle on Sunday. McCarthy’s strategy, Rivera told NBC Sports, isn’t important and just an attempt to get into their heads.

“I don’t think it’s important,” he said. “I think that’s the big mistake … He’s now made it about him and what he said. It’s not about his players anymore. I think that’s the big mistake. That’s why to me you don’t do those things. What you do is you focus in on, you get ready and you play football.

“We show up on Sunday and see what happens.”

Jerry Jones thrilled with McCarthy's guarantee

McCarthy, in his first day back to in-person work with the Cowboys after testing positive for COVID-19, said that he expects Dallas to beat Washington on Sunday.

"We know what people think of us. We love that. We're comfortable with who we are, where we are," McCarthy told reporters on Thursday. "But I'm excited about what's in front of us. We're going to win this game. I'm confident in that. And just the prep that's going into it. But more importantly we want to improve, too, along the way. I think that's all part of what the challenge of December football gives ya."

That clearly went over well with quarterback Dak Prescott, who replied, “S**t yeah,” when asked if he supports the guarantee.

Though the Cowboys hold the lead in the NFC East over Washington, Sunday’s game is far from a lock.

Dallas has struggled after opening the season on a 6-1 run, and has dropped three of its last five games. Washington, on the other hand, has won four straight and is trying to make a playoff push.

While his comments turned plenty of heads, McCarthy doesn’t care.

“It’s irrelevant what anyone thinks about what I said in here yesterday,” McCarthy said Friday, via USA Today. “I was talking about my team. I always coach my team. That’s where I’m at with it. We have great confidence in what we’re trying to do. It was an honest answer to a question from a great group of people.”

If nothing else, McCarthy has the full support of his boss.

“He’s raring and ready,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told 105.3 The Fan, via USA Today. “He's been pinned up and that's reflected in his demeanor as well as how he’s articulating his feeling. We, as a franchise, we as the Cowboys, we put it out there. We know we do. We ask folks to look at us, be interested in us, follow us. We know a bunch of people look at us because they’d like to see us lose. That’s sport. That creates excitement

“I like all this kind of additional color to the interest in this game.”