With the exit meetings over, the entire team met with Mike McCarthy in the afternoon where they expressed their feelings about the end of the season.
“He felt for us,” Lewis said. “He wanted it really bad for us. The kind of capable people we are, he knew how much we got along. He wanted that.”
Owner and general manager Jerry Jones also visited the team and expressed urgency about the team’s desire to win.
“His message was we have to win,” Lewis said. “This is the Dallas Cowboys. We had everything we needed to win. We can’t keep this feeling going, so it’s understandable. I just feel like he wants to win right now. The urgency is there right now. It’s always been We had a shoulder to shoulder. He made it clear that was the issue.”
Amidst the speculation about what decisions Jerry Jones might make regarding players, Mike McCarthy and others, Lewis took an opportunity to defend his head coach and the quarterback he had.
“It’s one of the hardest jobs in America,” he said. “Quarterbacks and head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. I feel like (McCarthy) has done a tremendous job taking all things into account. It’s tough enough. A lot of people against you, all the outside noise, we just made sure We put our arms around each other and stayed together. I think he did a really good job.”
“Look what happened when he wasn’t here. We struggled to get over .500. We won 12 games three seasons in a row. I hope (he comes back).”
