Cowboys Corner

Martellus Bennett: I'm pretty frustrated

Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett had seven catches for 45 yards in the loss to the Bears. His post-game comments:

"I'm pretty frustrated. A lot of people make fun of me because I am an outgoing guy, but it is all about living in the moment. You can't think about tomorrow, the play after that, or the play before. It is all about living in the moment, and once everyone starts doing that and they realize what we are doing at that time, we will eliminate a lot of mistakes.

"I don't take anything for granted. When you are out there, you have to enjoy it and make the most out of every single play you get."

On turnovers (the Cowboys had three):

"When you lose the turnover battle, 80 percent of the teams that do, will lose the game. I don't care how good of a team you are or who you are playing against. You can bring Baylor out here and they would beat you if you had three turnovers.

"It's about taking care of the ball, which is the number one priority. And the outcome of the game is judged by hat happens to the ball."

Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett's post-game comments

Do you agree with Jerry criticizing the execution?

"Absolutely. Our guys are playing hard, but it's not as clean as it needs to be right now in all areas. We are going to work to get that rectified. There were some good things that happened in this game. Obviously, there were too many things that were not good. On individual plays and throughout the ballgame. We are going to look at it and go back and address it on an individual basis and try to look at some other things to make us better. But the approach and the effort has been good by our players. We just have to clean things up and execute better."

Keith Brooking: We need positive reinforcement

Cowboys linebacker Keith Brooking, one of the spiritual leaders of the team, had this to say to the media after Sunday's loss to the Bears:

"It's not a good thing at all. You guys will probably make it seem like it's the end of the world and that the season is over, but none of that really matters. We have to have positive reinforcement. We have to be accountable for our mistakes."

What Jerry Jones said after Sunday's loss ...

On the impact of an 0-2 start ...

"You can't anticipate it, and you've got to realize that it's quite a setback. Everything in me is about being optimistic. I know at the end of the day, these losses ... if we can have a season that gets us into the playoffs, these losses can be mitigated. But right now they're everything."

On the lack of offensive scoring despite good yardage ...

"The point is, at the end of the day, we don't have the one thing that counts. You can look at all the stats, and I like to do that, and you can look at it on an individual basis or otherwise. But this is across the board. This isn't just the offense."

On concerns about the kicking position ...

"... Certainly ... there have been some field goals that have been missed, but my intuition is to be real patient there."

On his criticisms after the game ...

"The execution; the basic stuff. You want to call a turnover a mistake; I'll call it with you there on that. We just weren't able to get up on them, so to speak, or get what you call the momentum."

Crayton's effort rewarded

Of all ironies, Patrick Crayton, demoted as punt returner when the Cowboys acquired specialist Allen Rossum during the bye week, was selected the NFC special teams player of the week.

 

Crayton returned an Atlanta fourth-quarter punt 73 yards for a touchdown, the first of his career.

Rossum tore his hamstring on his first kickoff return, putting Crayton back in business.

 

It was the first punt return for a touchdown for the Cowboys since Terence Newman returned one 56 yards against Detroit on Dec. 31, 2006, and the longest since Deion Sanders took one back 76 yards at Indianapolis on Oct. 31, 1999.

 

Jeff Caplan

Cowboys wrap up D-Ware

The Cowboys have called a news conference for around 4:30 this afternoon to make a player personnel announcement. That player would be defensive end DeMarcus Ware. The announcement is the finalization of a long-term contract. Ware's rookie deal expires at the end of this season and the Cowboys and Ware's representatives have been in talks for months. Break out your calculators and stay tuned for further details.

Jeff Caplan

Bennett jokes, but is he really laughing?

Tight end Martellus Bennett likes to joke around. So he did Tuesday at a press conference in Dallas to bring awareness to diabetes.

 

A little girl, Kendall Tubbs, who struggles with diabetes was set to toss a football toward Bennett and former NFL wide receiver Tim Brown. That’s when Bennett cracked his joke, a dig at his quarterback Tony Romo.

 

“I was like, ‘Hey, if she’s Romo she’s not going to throw it to me,” Bennett said. “It was just a little joke.”

But, like all good comedians know, behind every joke lies a tinge of truth. And the truth is that Bennett, expected be a threat out of two tight-end set, has been far more effective as a run-blocker than a pass-catcher with just four receptions for 40 yards in five games.

 

“A lot of people are trying to get me to say, ‘Hey, I want the ball,’” Bennett said. “Damn right I want the ball, but I go about it the right way. I go out and just do my job every single day so when my chances come, you never know when it’s going to be, I’m prepared to make plays.”

 

Jeff Caplan

 

Austin takes NFC Offensive Player of the Week award

In his first career start at Kansas City in place of Roy Williams (ribs), Miles Austin's 250-yard receiving performance garnered him the NFC Offensive Player of the Week award.

Austin finished with a career-high 10 catches for a club-record 250 yards with two touchdowns. Remarkably, entering the game, Williams and Patrick Crayton each had just 11 receptions in four games. Austin eclipsed Bob Hayes’ previous club record of 246 yards set 43 years ago on Nov. 13, 1966 at Washington.

Austin's two touchdown receptions went for 59 and 60 yards, the game-tying score and the game-winner in overtime, respectively. His 250 receiving yards marked the most ever by a player in their first career start and he became just the 15^th receiver in NFL history since the merger to reach 250 receiving yards in a single game.

And now, Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips has said Austin will play as much as he did in the KC game, although that might not mean he actually starts. Semantics.

Jeff Caplan

Todd Haley wonders what might have been...

The KC coach and former Cowboys assistant believes had the snap gone horribly wrong in the playoff game against Seattle that things could have turned out much differently.

"I have great memories of Dallas. The one memory I have that’s not great is the Seattle game because I truly believed in my heart of hearts that if we had kicked that field goal and won the game that we were going to give some people, the Bears specifically, some problems and who knows how that year would have ended up."

Jeff Caplan

Todd Haley wonders what might have been...

The KC coach and former Cowboys assistant believes had the snap gone horribly wrong in the playoff game against Seattle that things could have turned out much differently.

"I have great memories of Dallas. The one memory I have that’s not great is the Seattle game because I truly believed in my heart of hearts that if we had kicked that field goal and won the game that we were going to give some people, the Bears specifically, some problems and who knows how that year would have ended up."

Jeff Caplan