Cowboys News: McCarthy’s press conference stuns; new invites for Quinn, Whitt

McCarthy stood by the ill-fated final play and is confident in his job security, but he acknowledged that penalties need to be addressed. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys head coach held his season-ending press conference on Wednesday, and the longer it went on, the more bombshells he dropped. Hard to say what’s more shocking for Cowboys fans who are still bitterly disappointed: that the coach seems smugly confident in his job security, that he’s still defending the quarterback draw that ended their playoff run, or that he continued to ride Ezekiel Elliott over Tony Pollard after Elliott tore a PCL the first weekend in October. At least he acknowledged that penalties will be a major point of emphasis this offseason.

McCarthy’s staff remains a popular bunch. Dan Quinn and Kellen Moore interviewed virtually with the Vikings, Quinn got a new invite from a division rival, and one of Quinn’s defensive assistants is now on the radar for the DC gig at one of Quinn’s old stops.

Elsewhere, a Cowboys legend drags the team for not keeping it simple with one of their top playmakers, a pair of rookies prep for ankle surgery this week, a depth defender heads for greener pastures, Dallas does big ratings once again, and a draft guru has the Cowboys looking to the college champs for next season. Here’s the News and Notes.