Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones expressed his belief Tuesday that head coach Mike McCarthy's contract situation is unrelated to the team's on-field play.

During an appearance on Shan & RJ on Audacy's 105.3 The Fan (beginning at the 21:22 mark), Jones downplayed the notion that the Cowboys' results magnify McCarthy's contractual standing in any way, saying:

"I don't think where he is with his contract has anything to do with [the Week 1 win at] Cleveland, where we were giving accolades out to him and [defensive coordinator Mike] Zimmer or how we played Sunday. … We're trying to get this team ready and in place to really make a run at the playoffs. On any given Sunday you can have a bad day in the NFL and you can certainly lose a ball game in the NFL. The NFL is one that you can lose several games. And if you're playing well at the end of the year, you can win the Super Bowl."

McCarthy is in the final year of his contract and may not be retained in the event of another Cowboys postseason shortcoming.

After going 6-10 in his first season as Dallas' head coach, McCarthy led the Cowboys to three consecutive playoff appearances, but they lost twice in the Wild Card Round and once in the Divisional Round.

That included an upset home loss to the Green Bay Packers in the Wild Card Round last season despite being the NFC East champions and No. 2 seed in the NFC.

There was some thought that the Cowboys would fire McCarthy after such a devastating loss, but they stuck with him and also made few impactful personnel moves aside from signing quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to big extensions.

The Cowboys looked fantastic in their 33-17 Week 1 road win over the Cleveland Browns, but things took a 180-degree turn in Week 2.

Dallas was favored at home against the New Orleans Saints, but Zimmer's defense had no answers for the New Orleans offense, as the Saints won 44-19, spearheaded by running back Alvin Kamara's four touchdowns.

On Tuesday, Jones suggested that he is fine with going through some trials and tribulations on the regular season if it means better playoff results, saying:

"If we've got any albatross around our neck, it's that we've been a good-to-very-good team during the season over the last four to five years with Mike and we haven't done well in the playoffs. So let's trade some challenges during the season for doing well in the playoffs, if you want to look at it that way."

While Jones' viewpoint is good in theory, the postseason is far from a guarantee if defensive efforts like the one the Cowboys put forth on Sunday persist moving forward.

Given that the Cowboys didn't sign McCarthy to an extension, he knew entering the 2024 campaign that he would be coaching for his job, so there is added pressure to perform each week.

Jones clearly doesn't feel like that is related to the Cowboys' poor showing in Week 2, but if it becomes a trend, a coaching change during the 2024 season could potentially be on the table.