Mike McCarthy responds to Troy Aikman's critiques of Dallas Cowboys receivers

FRISCO — Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy says he doesn’t like to entertain outside noise, no matter how loud it is with the Cowboys, in particular.

Every place has its hardships, McCarthy said. Green Bay had the cold, and Dallas has the heat of a massive microscope. It is, ultimately, what it is.

But McCarthy did have one exception with one piece of outside news this past week.

Former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, now an analyst for ESPN’s Monday Night Football, has never been one to mince words. That held true during an interview on 96.7 The Ticket when he was discussing Cowboys wide receivers, including star CeeDee Lamb, and their route running.

“I think the routes are terrible,” Aikman told The Ticket, as transcribed by The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “I think they run terrible routes. And I’ve thought that beyond this year. I think CeeDee [Lamb] has got to improve in his route running. As a quarterback, if you’re not certain where guys are going to be consistently, it’s hard to play the position. That’s what I see. I see guys lazy coming off the line of scrimmage. Sometimes they run, usually if they do, it’s because they’re anticipating they’re going to get the football on that play, but if they’re not, they don’t. And it all ties together. I’m not impressed with that part of it.

“I just finished watching the Baltimore Ravens because I have them this week. You put on film of theirs and watch their receivers run routes and they come off the football, so does San Francisco’s and Green Bay’s and others. But it’s hard to play the (QB) position if you’re not certain how guys are going to run routes or where they’re going to be. And I’m not speaking for Dak (Prescott). Dak may say, ‘Hey, I think (their routes) are amazing.’ But as a former quarterback watching it, it’s got to get a lot better.”

One statistic doesn’t tell the whole story, but NextGenStats’ average separation when targeted is an appropriate one in this case. An average of three yards is considered good. The Cowboys only have two pass catchers above that threshold: tight end Jake Ferguson (3.3) and KaVontae Turpin (3.2). Both CeeDee Lamb and Jalen Tolbert are averaging 2.5 yards of average separation when targeted.

That has to improve. McCarthy didn’t take exception with that fact. McCarthy did take exception with one part of Aikman’s analysis, though. McCarthy didn’t agree with Aikman’s descriptors of “terrible” routes and “lazy” execution.

“They don’t carry any weight with me,” McCarthy said of outside criticism, “because I watch all the tape. I get to go to the meetings. I’m at practice. I’m part of the games. I have a clear understanding of what and where and Troy’s statement in particular, I don’t agree with the word selection. But there is definitely need for improvement in every position. Not just one position that he commented on.”