ARLINGTON, Texas — Jerry Jones couldn’t hide his frustration.

The Dallas Cowboys’ fourth straight loss and fifth straight home loss were “not fun” and “it’s not pretty,” he said.

“There’s no joy here without winning games,” Jones said after the Cowboys resounding 34-6 loss to Philadelphia Eagles. “And I am very sorry to our fans. Very.”

Jones’ regrets will influence how he handles his spiraling 3-6 team. But don’t expect that regret to translate into an imminent decision regarding head coach Mike McCarthy.

Because the team owner, who is also the Cowboys’ general manager and chief decision-maker, also regrets his history there.

Jones values ​​second chances and optimistic outlooks. He loves to mention the possibility, small but not yet zero, that the end of the storybook he’s looking for is still there.

The times he acted recklessly, perhaps even proportionately, he nonetheless felt guilty about his personnel moves.

“I don’t even understand not having hope,” he said.

Let’s explain.

Some might view Jason Garrett’s 10-year tenure as generous in a league where coaching and front office turnover is endemic. Garrett won 55.9% of games during those years (85-67 record), advancing to the playoffs three times. But the Cowboys’ 2-3 postseason record under Garrett never included a win or Super Bowl appearance, or even an appearance in an NFC title game.

Despite that, Jones is more comfortable with Garrett not being re-signed 10 years later than he is with Wade Phillips being fired after a 1-7 start in his fourth season. He also fired Chan Gailey after an 18-14 tenure in the late 1990s.

“I changed coaches during the season with Wade and I always regretted it,” Jones said Sunday night at AT&T Stadium as an open elevator door awaited him. “And I actually made a switch with Chan Gailey after two years. I regretted it. This is not enough. You have to give yourself a chance.

“I’ve had a lot more rope than that in my time. Nobody stopped me. »

Jones’ outlook appears to indicate that McCarthy, who won 46 of 76 regular season games with Dallas (60.5%), will coach the remaining eight games of Dallas’ season.

But players are familiar with McCarthy’s workout in the final year of his current contract with the Cowboys.

And their varied post-match comments reflected the uncertainty over who will lead them next season.

“It’s above my pay grade (if) Mike coaches again next year,” Micah Parsons said. “Coaching, Mike can leave and go wherever he wants. The guys I feel a little bad for (are veteran right guard) Zack Martin and the guys who might be in their final year or on their way out. Because that’s why I wanted to hold the trophy.

His teammates expressed the need to “fight” for McCarthy as long as he is head coach.

But at least one of the team’s stars sees a window closing when it comes to men in the locker room.

“You want to win games and do great things with these type of legends who put in more time and work than Mike McCarthy ever did,” Parsons said, without specifying whether he was referring only to the tenure of the Cowboys. “He’s the kind of guy I have so much sympathy for and feel so bad for.”

The Cowboys offense gave the team no chance against the Eagles

As the game clock wound down, McCarthy knew the result was unacceptable. He also knew that the recipe that resulted in the 28-point loss was even more concerning than the score in a vacuum.

“You can’t win games by turning the ball over five times — I don’t care who lines up,” McCarthy said. “We can’t turn things around and that’s something that these last two home games – our fans should be angry.

“That’s not our goal.”

For months now, especially at their home AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys have been characterized by lopsided losses filled with penalties and turnovers.

Since the Green Bay Packers beat the Cowboys 48-32 at home in the wild-card game, Dallas has not broken the JerryWorld curse. The Cowboys, who trailed 48-16 in the fourth quarter of that game, were the only home team not to advance to the divisional round.

They have since lost at home to a similarly spiraling New Orleans Saints team, 44-19, and to the Baltimore Ravens 28-25. The Detroit Lions beat the Cowboys 47-9…and the Eagles came to town for 34-6.

The Cowboys coughed up five turnovers against the Lions with Dak Prescott and five without him against the Eagles. Communication issues, lack of discipline and pressure were already problems — and as Prescott recovers from a likely season-ending torn hamstring, those problems have been exacerbated.

The turnovers came when Cowboys center Cooper Beebe and quarterback Cooper Rush botched a snap exchange, and when running back Ezekiel Elliott lost the ball while entering the end zone. They came as Eagles rusher Bryce Huff sacked Rush and tight end Jake Ferguson tried to catch a pass with one hand, then missed. Backup quarterback Trey Lance threw an interception to complete the gift.

“This is unacceptable,” McCarthy said. “You can’t sugarcoat it anyway. »

And for the eighth straight game, the Cowboys failed to score in the third quarter. Their trio of three-and-outs in the third quarter put the Eagles up by eight points to 22. The Eagles outscored the Cowboys 20-0 in the second half.

Rush and Lance combined to complete 17 of 29 pass attempts for a total of 66 yards.

“What are we half doing to get the water out of the bathtub?” » said Jones. “At halftime, in the third quarter? It’s really a headache.

“I don’t know what we drink in the third trimester when we get out. But it doesn’t work. »

Even optimistic Jones struggles to find the Cowboys’ silver lining

Jones appeared more irritable than usual during his postgame interview, his public patience seeming to wane even as he preached actions that stayed the course.

When asked what a dismal passing day said about Prescott’s role on the team, Jones responded that he didn’t “mean to be sarcastic, but do you have the same arithmetic as me?” We won three games with Dak, okay? So I’m just saying: We weren’t playing well with Dak – at all.

He evaded a question about Elliott because he didn’t want to “isolate anyone” during the flop. “Rather than the other (ratings) F and D, did anyone have a C-minus? Who cares?

And regarding the coach’s role in the Cowboys’ loss, Jones said “everyone contributed to this,” including the players, coaches and front office. He didn’t want to blame the sun that blinded each team on certain plays, but he otherwise wanted to spread the blame around.

“It’s no consolation for someone to step in here and tell the fans, ‘It’s my fault.’ I’ll take this one,” Jones said. “What does it matter? And so I’m not trying to pull out that BS.

All told, as McCarthy spoke from the podium and Cowboys players answered questions from a locker room devoid of music and chatter, the man most in charge of the decisions shaping the franchise laid out the criteria for evaluating his coach for the remainder of the season.

Jones wants to see not only what the teams’ results are, but also “how we play” and is the coaching staff giving its players an advantage. Are they competitive? Are they competitive when they have to bounce back from a deficit?

All this and more will be taken into account.

The Cowboys’ three straight 12-win seasons and playoff berths during McCarthy’s tenure will impact whether he receives an extension offer. Their spectacular playoff exits and current obstacles will also be evaluated.

“Mike is a heck of a coach,” Jones said. “He’s a great coach in my opinion (who) should have the opportunity to do better than what we’re currently playing.

“So like I said, I didn’t have a good experience changing coaches mid-season.”

Cornerback Jourdan Lewis said the Cowboys will continue to fight in a season that somehow has eight more games to play.

“We have to go out there, fight for him every day (and) translate it into wins,” Lewis told Yahoo Sports. “At the end of the day, we have to go out there and fight.

“The coach is still in charge and we have to fight for him.”

Positivity and light are key to that fighting spirit, Parsons said. He put his own spin on the message he heard at the team chapel this weekend.

“Be the light,” Parsons said. “Even when it’s dark as fuck, light up, bro.”