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Jason Witten serves as coach Jason Garrett's security blanket
November, 7, 2014
By Jean-Jacques Taylor | ESPNDallas.com
LONDON -- The Dallas Cowboys have had 625 plays on offense this season. Tight end Jason Witten has been on the field for every one of them.
He’s the only skill-position player in the NFL who can say that, which is remarkable considering the 6-foot-5, 265-pound tight end is blocking more than ever in his 12th season.
"I’ve got a lot of stories through the years about Witten and the friction that happens when you put a personnel group on the field and he’s not part of it," coach Jason Garrett said. "We don’t want to take him off the field.
"We’ve asked him to do a lot of different things through the years. He’s a really, really capable player, and more than that, he’s embraced everything we’ve asked him to do."
The Cowboys have used him as a blocker 344 times this season, which is among the reasons running back DeMarco Murray is on pace to break Emmitt Smith’s single season franchise record of 1,773 yards set in 1995.
The result of all that blocking is that Witten is on pace to catch 60 passes for 708 yards, which would be his least productive season since his rookie year in 2003, when he caught 35 passes for 347 yards.
"Receiving tight ends like to run down the field and catch the football," Garrett said. "He’s also embraced the run-blocking, the pass protection and we put him in the backfield. We ask him to do a lot of dirty work, but he wants to do it as well as he can for himself and our football team."
Witten would love to catch more passes, but he doesn’t really care about his stats as long as the Cowboys are winning and he’s on the field.
"They can’t take me off the field," Witten said. "I don’t like to come off. You have to have pride in the little things, the details, and part of that is playing every down. It’s important to me."
November, 7, 2014
By Jean-Jacques Taylor | ESPNDallas.com
LONDON -- The Dallas Cowboys have had 625 plays on offense this season. Tight end Jason Witten has been on the field for every one of them.
He’s the only skill-position player in the NFL who can say that, which is remarkable considering the 6-foot-5, 265-pound tight end is blocking more than ever in his 12th season.
"I’ve got a lot of stories through the years about Witten and the friction that happens when you put a personnel group on the field and he’s not part of it," coach Jason Garrett said. "We don’t want to take him off the field.
"We’ve asked him to do a lot of different things through the years. He’s a really, really capable player, and more than that, he’s embraced everything we’ve asked him to do."
The Cowboys have used him as a blocker 344 times this season, which is among the reasons running back DeMarco Murray is on pace to break Emmitt Smith’s single season franchise record of 1,773 yards set in 1995.
The result of all that blocking is that Witten is on pace to catch 60 passes for 708 yards, which would be his least productive season since his rookie year in 2003, when he caught 35 passes for 347 yards.
"Receiving tight ends like to run down the field and catch the football," Garrett said. "He’s also embraced the run-blocking, the pass protection and we put him in the backfield. We ask him to do a lot of dirty work, but he wants to do it as well as he can for himself and our football team."
Witten would love to catch more passes, but he doesn’t really care about his stats as long as the Cowboys are winning and he’s on the field.
"They can’t take me off the field," Witten said. "I don’t like to come off. You have to have pride in the little things, the details, and part of that is playing every down. It’s important to me."
