DALLAS — For the second straight year, Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy has been fined for violating rules regarding offseason practices, according to owner and general manager Jerry Jones.
McCarthy was fined $100,000, and the Cowboys were docked an organized team activity for 2023 for holding practices that were deemed too physical by the NFL. The organization was not fined, unlike in 2021.
A year ago, McCarthy was fined $50,000 and the Cowboys fined $100,000 and had an OTA taken away this offseason for the same reason. Dallas was one of three teams to be fined in 2021 and have an OTA taken away for practice violations. San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan was fined $50,000 and the organization was fined $100,000, while the Jacksonville Jaguars were fined $200,000 and former coach Urban Meyer was fined $100,000.
McCarthy cut the Cowboys’ mandatory minicamp down from three practices to one this week, but that did not have to do with the penalty. The Cowboys held a team-building event at Topgolf on Wednesday, and the veterans were excused from work Thursday while the rookies met with coaches and had their final weight-lifting session.
“I think the biggest thing is you have a starting line and finish line and I just felt like we crossed the finish line, particularly with the veterans,” McCarthy said when asked why he cut the minicamp short. “And really today’s focus was just really spending final time with the rookies. I think they had their opportunity to get their final lift in for this week, spend a bunch of individual time with the coordinators and assistant coaches and really frankly focus on the five-week plan that’s in front of them. Everything we wanted to accomplish in the offseason was completed, and really the focus turns to their individual five-week plan.”