Mike McCarthy said it was time to stop "candy coating" the Dallas Cowboys' errors after being thrashed by the Washington Football Team.

The Cowboys fell to a 2-5 record after Sunday's 25-3 defeat at FedExField, where quarterback Andy Dalton was hurt following a dirty late hit by Jon Bostic.

Cowboys head coach McCarthy was unhappy with his team's performance as they slipped to third in the NFC East.

"We're not doing the basics. Let's quit candy coating it," he told reporters.

"I can't stand up here and keep talking about taking care of the football, taking the ball away and just the fundamentals.

"Whether we haven't had enough time together or whatever the case is, at the end of the day, the schedule is set and we need to continue to work because we need improvement each day, each week especially before we go to Philadelphia."

McCarthy, who coached the Green Bay Packers for 13 seasons before being fired in 2018, took charge of the Cowboys earlier this year.

The 56-year-old believes his players are still responding to him despite a slow start to the season.

"Definitely. I can only tell you what goes on every day as far as the preparation, the daily communication, interaction with the players throughout the program, McCarthy said.

"We knew there would be adjustments throughout as a football team, we've been hit with a number of challenges that we're just not pushing through right now.

"We need to continue to work and I believe we'll push through the other end."

With the Philadelphia Eagles (2-4-1) topping the NFC East, it is the first time in NFL history that each team in a division has had fewer than three wins through Week 7 (excluding strike seasons), as per NFL Research.