It was last season in Washington that Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy questioned his players after a loss to Washington. McCarthy didn’t appreciate that none of his players came to quarterback Andy Dalton’s defense after an illegal hit by Jon Bostic that concussed Dalton.
The Cowboys, who were playing with four backup offensive linemen, didn’t get into Bostic’s face.
Fast forward to Sunday when La’el Collins earned an ejection for defending quarterback Dak Prescott.
“LC did exactly what you’re supposed to do there,” McCarthy said after the Cowboys’ 27-20 win over Washington on Sunday.
Washington defensive end William Bradley-King hit Prescott along the Cowboys sideline as Prescott threw away the ball. Collins went after Bradley-King, throwing punches that got him ejected.
Bradley-King’s only penalty was offsides, which was superseded by Collins’ penalty.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott, who was not in the game at the time, also got involved. He shoved Bradley-King several times but was not penalized.
A year ago, in his postgame news conference, McCarthy said, “We speak all the time about playing for one another, protecting one another. It definitely was probably not the response you would expect.”
Collins gave McCarthy the response he expected.