CONGRATULATIONS: Mike McCarthy Welcomes new born baby

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The opening news conference of training camp ended and Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy was able to leave relatively quickly. Most of the reporters surrounded Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones.

In a small scrum, Stephen Jones, the Cowboys’ executive vice president, was asked mostly about the contracts of Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons.

Off to the side in a larger throng, Jerry Jones, the owner and general manager, was asked many things, including about Bill Belichick, the out-of-work head coach who won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and has been linked to the organization as a potential coach in the not-so distant future.

“I think he may be the best coach, certainly of my time in the NFL, and I happen to be part of a team that had the great Tom Landry, and I’d put him right there,” Jones said. “Bill’s a friend and a great coach.”

As McCarthy begins his fifth season as the Cowboys’ coach Sunday at the Cleveland Browns (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox), this is the noise that surrounds him as he enters the last year of his contract. Each week will be a referendum on his future.

“I’m thankful and appreciate the opportunity in front of me,” McCarthy said to start this week. “That’s really how it’s been. I get what goes with contracts and I really don’t want to speak on it, because I haven’t spoke on it, because there’s really nothing to talk about. It doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is today, and that’s really something we can all just stay in touch with because we do have responsibilities outside of winning games, but the only thing that truly pays the bills is winning games.

“That’s where my mind is at. I’m 30-plus years into this. We know how things work. I can’t stand up in front of a group of men and consistently on a daily basis demand that they focus their time and energy on winning, and then I’m up here talking about things that have nothing to do with winning. I guess that’s how I deal with it.”

McCarthy is 41-25 as the Cowboys’ coach. His .627 winning percentage is the best in Cowboys history. He has won two NFC East titles. But — and it’s an important ‘but’ — he has only one playoff win, and last year’s 48-32 debacle of a loss to the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round at AT&T Stadium remains a fresh memory.

Especially for Jerry Jones.

Even though Jones has put McCarthy in this position by not giving him an extension, he bristles when asked how McCarthy has dealt with not having a contract beyond this season.

“I don’t know I’ve ever seen a coach change [his] coaching or change how hard he works over his contract,” Jones said. “I didn’t know anything like that ever happened or could happen. So, I’ve seen no difference in who Mike is. Mike’s a Super Bowl-winning coach and has an outstanding record since he’s been here, and that’s where it is.

“So, we’ve all got [the loss to] Green Bay on our mind. We all have it on our mind, and we all know until we can get that addressed, then we’re going to always have a bad taste in our mouth.”