DALLAS — Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Thursday, coach Mike McCarthy was fined for the second consecutive year by the NFL for having offseason practices that were too physical. The NFL made its decision based on evaluating practice footage.
McCarthy was fined $100,000 for the infraction and the team will lose a voluntary Organized Team Activity practice in 2023. Last year, McCarthy was fined $50,000 and the team was docked $100,000 and lost an OTA practice for similar infractions.
This year, the Cowboys were not fined.
NFL teams are allowed 13 offseason practices which includes 10 OTA practices and a three-day mandatory minicamp.
The Cowboys were permitted to have 12 in 2022 but utilized nine of the days, ending the offseason work on Tuesday. McCarthy had the players do a club outing at Top Golf Wednesday and dismissed them after a weight lifting session on Thursday.
NFL teams ending offseason work early is a new trend across the league.
However, the physical practices the Cowboys are apparently having are too much for league officials. Teams can’t have practices in full pads and there is no contact allowed. At times there is physical play when linemen are engaged and when a receiver goes one-on-one with a defensive back.
Despite the practice infractions, McCarthy said one of the reasons he cut back on the offseason practices because several players remain in the area to workout and the positive classwork from the younger players.
“I thought they knocked it out of the park,” McCarthy said of his coaching staff and his players. “I thought they hit a home run as far as maximizing their time with our players.”
