A lot has happened since the Cowboys last took the field.

Owner Jerry Jones has sparred with the hosts of his bi-weekly radio appearances and pointedly sidestepped an apology in his first appearance afterward. He questioned the design and plays of head coach Mike McCarthy, among other things, when he did return.

There was a story suggesting the tours the team conducts at The Star and AT&T Stadium are part of a culture that explains why the franchise is in a Super Bowl drought that is in its third decade. A Pro Bowl kicker missed practice because he’s on jury duty and Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman questioned the routes and effort of star CeeDee Lamb and the team’s receivers on his weekly local radio appearance.

And that doesn’t even take into account lingering injuries to key players.

In other words, just a typical few weeks at The Star coming off a crushing defeat at home to Detroit.

“I just think it’s part of our industry,” McCarthy said. “Injuries are clearly the worst part of this game, in my opinion. The other things that happened ... that’s a part of life.

“It’s never going to stop. I think just the most important thing is just to be there, make sure the energy and focus and everything stays constant and at the end of the day it’s about winning against San Francisco. That’s all we’re really worried about.”

So, what does it all mean heading into Sunday’s road came against the Niners?

We’re about to find out.

Ratio out of whack

McCarthy takes great pride in the turnover ratio of his team’s throughout his career. The category, which subtracts offensive giveaways from defensive takeaways, is a bedrock of his coaching philosophy.

Dallas cracked the top five last season at plus-10. That same number two seasons ago was good for second. The plus-14 in 2021 led the NFL.

And now? The Cowboys currently sit at minus-6. Only Tennessee and Las Vegas are worse.

The defense has had a comparable number of opportunities to last season but their conversion rate is down dramatically. That comes down to positioning, anticipation, proper angles and pursuit.

Offensive turnovers are up as the Cowboys have gotten behind early in games and have taken some chances they wouldn’t otherwise.

“Our exposed opportunities are two-to-one compared to last year,” McCarthy said. “So that’s obviously a major emphasis for the offense and return units.”

Tight end university

Four years ago, San Francisco’s George Kittle, Kansas City’s Travis Kelce and former NFL tight end Greg Olsen conceived an offseason program called Tight End University. The program grew this year to include 70 tight ends and quarterbacks.

The Cowboys Jake Ferguson and Dak Prescott were in that group.

“It was awesome," Ferguson said of having Prescott there with him. “One guy [tight end] would say something and I’d turn around and look at Dak and he’d say, ‘Don’t do that.’

“There are some differences in offenses and there is some stuff where I know my quarterback wouldn’t like that. I don’t know if we run the offense that way.

“Scheme is important. So were the extra routes on air with him and getting him to see a tight end’s world a little bit.”

Kittle is the league’s second leading receiver among tight ends entering this game with 34 catches for 375 yards and five touchdowns. He was a bit surprised with how open Kittle and Kelce were.

“Yeah," said Ferguson, who has 25 catches for 240 yards and no touchdowns. “I mean they’re probably not giving everything. It would be foolish to think I’m getting all of their secrets.

“I’m sure there are a couple of things they don’t tell but there are things I don’t tell people. I learned from [former Cowboys left tackle] Tyron Smith when he was here you don’t tell everyone your secrets.

“Why would you do that?"

Middle of it all

San Francisco’s defense has made it tough on the Cowboys in previous outings. It starts up front with defensive ends Nick Bosa and Leonard Floyd.

But don’t overlook middle linebacker Fred Warner.

“I think Fred is playing as well as anybody that has played that position in some time," McCarthy said. “He’s definitely someone that jumps out off the tape.

“You can see the ability, but now you see someone with his rate of recognition, his patience and understanding, and what he triggers. He’s a playmaker in there, and they utilize him too. They put a lot of coverage responsibility on him. He’s the one making the checks on the formations.

“That’s where the value is. He does it as good as I’ve seen."

Quite a split

The Cowboys have yet to win at home this season.

The road? That’s a different matter.

McCarthy has always appreciated what success on the road can do for a team. He began talking to his players in the spring and continued into training camp about the anatomy of a road win.

The Cowboys have responded with a 3-0 record away from AT&T Stadium in the first two months of the season.

“If I could bottle that up and sell it, I wouldn’t be standing here," McCarthy said. “The home and away thing, I just hope we keep it going, especially the next two weeks on the road.

“We’ve done some [scheduling] tweaks on the road, so maybe that’s what’s working. Just me personally, I do enjoy being at the hotel by myself, getting ready for the game, the ride into the stadium.

“I love the underdog setting. Maybe that’s serving us well because we’ll definitely get a big dose of it Sunday night."

Line dance

The Cowboys start two rookies in the offensive line in left tackle Tyler Guyton and center Cooper Beebe.

Opponents have noticed. In McCarthy’s words, defensive linemen are running stunts and twists to confuse the rookies the moment they step off the bus. That’s one of the main reasons the coaches reduced the number of individual drills in practice coming out of the bye and replaced them with combination work.

It’s been awhile since Pro Bowl guard Zack Martin was a rookie. He said what Guyton and Beebe are being asked to recognize and process is far different from what he faced in his first season.

“I would say the defenses have evolved from my rookie season," Martin said. “The stuff defenses do now is not like what I saw when I first got into the league.

“On third down, the games and twists and matchups like that. You turn the tape on, every team is doing it, right? They do it on defense. It’s the best way really to mix it up on an offensive line.

“We do a good job of repping it. It’s all about being together, playing together, up front and it’s something we’re continuing to work on."

Catch David Moore and Robert Wilonsky as they co-host Intentional Grounding on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310 and 96.7 FM) every Wednesday from 7-8 p.m. through the Super Bowl.

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