WRs Not Only Option For Cowboys Offense
Dallas Morning News
August 1, 2008
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| Jason Witten goes up high for a pass at Cowboys training camp in Oxnard, Cal. (Courtesy Dallas Cowboys) |
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OXNARD, Calif. – A day before Terry Glenn was released, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones was asked if wide receiver was the only concern he had for his team. He pursed his lips, paused and looked away before coming up with an answer.
"I don't know that concern should be the right word," Jones said.
With so much worry about what happens to the passing game beyond Terrell Owens, Jones prefers to look at the totality of the offense.
"You can do it with the tight ends," Jones said. "You can do it with your backs. You can get some real explosion in that area."
With a Pro Bowl tight end in Jason Witten, who had 96 catches for 1,145 yards and seven touchdowns in 2007, Jones can feel comforted. But behind Witten there are questions. Second-round pick Martellus Bennett has to adjust to the rigors of the NFL, while Tony Curtis has only three catches (all touchdowns and all last year) in his career.
Jones can take comfort in Marion Barber as well. Barber caught a career-high 44 passes, the most by a Dallas tailback since Emmitt Smith had 47 in 1996. But Barber will handle the every-down running back role for the first time in his career, which could limit his role in the passing game.
The Cowboys want Felix Jones to assume a big part of the third-down offense, but he caught only 39 passes in three seasons at Arkansas.
"All you want to be able to do is threaten a defense different ways, running the ball and throwing the ball," offensive coordinator Jason Garrett said. "And the threat in the passing game is throwing it to this guy, this guy and this guy."
Tony Romo is not afraid of throwing it to his tight ends and running backs. Since becoming the starter, 261 of Romo's 539 completions have gone to tight ends (Witten has 140) and backs.
"What you're looking for is the guy to get the extra yards," Romo said. "When you throw it three or four yards, he's giving you 10, 12 yards. If you get guys like that, that makes life a lot easier on the quarterback."
The emphasis early in training camp appears to be getting the running backs and tight ends involved, but in different ways.
In one 7-on-7 series Sunday, Romo lined up in the shotgun with Barber to his left and Jones to the right with Witten, Owens and Patrick Crayton out wide. Before the snap, Jones motioned out of the backfield and was the recipient of a Romo throw down the sideline.
"All the really good quarterbacks, they're aggressive in their mentality, and you never want to take that away," Garrett said. "But at the same time, you have to take what the defense gives you. We learn that more and more, and Tony's going to be more productive."
