Cowboys coach Jason Garrett would probably offer veteran tight end Jason Witten a day off in camp.
But he doesn’t want to be shunned again, so he doesn’t bother.
Garrett said the 31-year-old tight end wouldn’t speak to him last year, after a play was drawn up which called for a different tight end to put himself in harm’s way.
According to Carlos Mendez of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Witten was miffed when a play called “Aggie 21” was put in. The play in question was designed for tight end Martellus Bennett to block down on a nose tackle — commonly known as a wham block — but Witten took offense that someone else was on the field.
“And I have a great relationship with Witt – have had a great one for a long time. When we put this thing in, he literally didn’t talk to me for a week,” Garrett said. “My image is, it’s a 300-pound nose tackle and a guy who caught 100 balls last year is going to come up and have a separated shoulder. It’s not good coaching. So we had a battle where he did not talk to me for a week about Aggie 21 whamming the nose.
“So getting him to take a day off of practice is a little bit like the Aggie 21 story. You start the conversation. He nods his head, he continues to nod his head, and he goes out to practice again and again and again.”
That kind of dedication to his is part of the reason Witten’s the player he is, and credit goes to Garrett for understanding his personnel.