Everything Jerry Jones said on his radio show, from Mike McCarthy to Micah Parsons

Just when it seemed like their season was on the brink, the Dallas Cowboys have found some new life. Despite a brutal home loss to the Cincinnati Bengals last Monday, the team has won three of its last four games, and now sits on the outer fringes of the NFC Wild Card race at 6-8. The remaining schedule is daunting (home games against the Tampa Bay Bucs and Washington Commanders sandwiched around a trip to Philadelphia), but crazier things have happened.

Speaking of crazy: Another Tuesday means another appearance by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Dallas' 105.3 The Fan radio. Jones touched on a wide variety of topics, from why fans shouldn't expect the team to move on from Mike McCarthy any time soon to a Micah Parsons trade to eating raccoon. (No, seriously.)

Jerry Jones offers unbelievable review of Mike McCarthy, Mike Zimmer's performance

As the losses mounted this year for Dallas, calls grew for both head coach Mike McCarthy and defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer to be fired at (or even before) the end of the season. And it's not hard to understand why: McCarthy hasn't updated his offense in years and seems to have plateaued after five years in Dallas, while Zimmer has been totally unable to come up with an answer for the team's issues in run defense.

Jones, however, seems to have no problem with either coach's performance so far in 2024. “I give them both high grades this year,” he said, praising McCarthy's ability to handle adversity and adding that "you're beginning to see some of the best" out of Zimmer's defense in recent weeks.

Both of those things are, technically, true; McCarthy has dealt with a lot this year, including a season-ending injury to Dak Prescott, while Zimmer's unit has looked better in recent weeks (particularly in an impressive win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday). Jones was adamant about not making a coaching decision before the end of the year, and at this point, it seems like both McCarthy and Zimmer have a chance to earn a contract extension with a strong finish to the season.

Jerry Jones shuts down any Micah Parsons trade speculation

As Dallas has fallen to the fringes of playoff contention, rumors have begun to swirl around the future of star pass-rusher Parsons, who's due to reset the edge market with a massive new contract in the next year or two. With the Cowboys already facing a cap crunch, does it really make sense for them to add a Parsons megadeal to the books to go along with the ones signed by Prescott and CeeDee Lamb?

Jones certainly seems to think so. At least, he has no intention of trading Parsons before his rookie deal expires at the end of 2025, saying that a Parsons deal has "never been uttered in this organization".

That would seem to be a pretty unambiguous denial. Of course, a lot can change between now and this offseason, when Parsons would be up for an extension rather than playing out the final season of his rookie deal. Dallas could either rally for a playoff spot or have the bottom fall out over the next three weeks. Parsons could decide he wants out. Right now, though, it sure seems like the Cowboys are set on signing him for the long haul. As for what that means about their ability to build a contending roster around their big three, that remains to be seen.

Jerry Jones has eaten raccoon before, apparently?

This one doesn't have anything to do with the Cowboys on the field strictly speaking, but it is ... noteworthy nonetheless. In response to Panthers wideout Xavier Legette recently mentioning that he's eaten raccoon before, Jones confirmed that he, too, has sampled that regional delicacy. But the owner didn't just stop there.

"It's not uncommon at all," Jones said. "One of my favorites is squirrel. It's wonderful. We all had our favorite pieces. ... My mom and I would even ask for the brain of the squirrel. Delicious. Seriously."

OK then!