This is what Jason Garrett had to say after his Dallas Cowboys improved to 3-0
Jason Garrett is 3-0 for the first time as the Dallas Cowboys’ head coach after a 31-6 win over the Miami Dolphins Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
He was asked about the record, Dak Prescott’s early-game decision-making, penalty issues and having two 100-yard rushers in a game for the first time since Emmitt Smith and Chris Warren did it against the Redskins on Oct. 4, 1998 in Washington. Smith had 120 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries; Warren had 104 yards and two scores on 14 carries.
Here are edited excerpts from Garrett’s post-game press conference from the Cowboys public relations transcripts:
On slow start, but great second half offensively and defensively …
“Yeah, we just had to keep banging away in all three phases of our team it the first half. I thought we made some mistakes that short circuited our offensive a little bit. We turned the ball over a lit bit, got behind the chains a couple of drives. We had to break away from that, but I thought we settled down in the second half and just came out and played more methodical. Put an extra run and pass, catch the drives. I thought the defense got better as the game wore on. I thought they did a good job keeping them out in the end zone in the first half and then the second half I thought we did a better job shutting down their run, getting after their quarter back and limit some of the plays they were making.”
On the touchdown that was called back and the penalties called …
“I thought the penalties called played a huge impact on the game. Obviously, you can’t have those plays, and we can’t have those plays that were nullified and we also had some situations that we got into because of the penalties. You’re digging out and it’s hard to have a rhythm offensively. I thought that hurt us in the game, after [the penalties] and I thought we have to do a better job in that area.”
On having two 100-yard rushers for the first time since 1998 …
“I remember that game. It’s obviously a tribute to the offensive line. They did an excellent job in the game to control the line of scrimmage throughout. Getting Zeke going is a big part of what we are trying to do offensively. He can control the tempo of the game when we run the ball well. Tony Pollard going in there; I told him afterwards he was looking like an NFL running back. He’s running inside, he’s finishing his runs. He’s playing tough, he’s playing the way you need to play at this level. It’s good to see him get that work and have some success.”
On his mindset at halftime, especially because they were a Kenyan Drake fumble away …
“Just go play. Settle back into play. Eliminate those mistakes. Be who you are and that’s what we try to do each and every day. The guys understood that. It didn’t require a big halftime speech. It didn’t require adjustments. It required us settling in and playing, snap after snap, after snap and all three phases of our team did a better job of that.”
On what difficulties does it present to defenses, now that he’s had a second 100-yard rusher, which he hasn’t had in a while …
“You want to be able to attack in different ways. It starts with how you run the ball and throw the ball, and if you can hand it to a couple of different guys and throw to a few of different guys and do those things in different ways, you are going to be that much more challenging to defend and that’s the goal you have. You want to be able to execute what you do and the more you can do to execute the better you will be. If you can hand it to two different guys, that just makes it that much more dangerous, but also allows you to keep Zeke fresh. Someone you have confidence in to hand the ball to and play, Zeke’s going to be fresh throughout the game, and that’s going to help him play better.”
On first season being 3-0 since 2008 and the importance of being 3-0 …
“We don’t get caught up in that kind of stuff. What we will do tomorrow is go back in and watch this game, and there are going to be some good things that we feel good about that we can build on, there’s going to be plenty of stuff that we are going to have to clean up and that’s really the world we live in and that’s what we try to instill in them as a coaching staff. So, that’s what we’ll do. We’ll have a couple of lemonades this afternoon and we will get back to work tomorrow morning to get better as a football team. It’s very purposeful in our approach to clean this game up and get ready for our next challenge.”
How he feels about his defensive pass rush as the game progressed …
“I thought it got better as the game went on. I thought we were right on the quarterback right from the start. We were hitting him, and we did a good job harassing him. We didn’t get him to the ground, and he did a good job hanging in there and completing some balls. But I did think we were around and then towards the end of the ball game we were able to get him and make some of those minus plays that you need to have.”
On Robert Quinn’s return …
“It was great to see Robert out there. He’s worked so hard for us since we’ve gotten him and he’s really embraced what we’ve tried to do with our football team. Just to have him back out there and playing and playing at a high level. He was around the quarterback, I thought his get off was really good. They were giving him a lot of attention, they were chipping at the back, they were trying to get some tight end presence on him, so he did a good job fighting through that, and when he got some looks when he was around the quarterback, he made some plays.”
Was this not a good decision-making game for Dak?
“There will be a couple of decisions when we watch the tape that he will want to have back. The interception; you know obviously he was trying to make a play. We as a coaching staff have to be careful. You say go make all those plays and when you scramble around and throw it to Witten, we like that one, but we don’t like the other one. You don’t want to put cuffs on a player like that. At the same time he has to learn from that situation, being in that particular situation in that play, you learn from it and grow and make the right decision and not turn the ball over. He’s done such a good job throughout his career, being able to make good plays and not make bad plays. That’s the standard we want to hold him to.”
Were there any adjustments going into the third quarter or just better execution overall?
“Just settle back in and play the way we play. You mention the penalties, I thought the penalties hurt us and in all three phases of our team, we got to make sure we avoid those, because that allows us to play with better rhythm offensively, and keeps us in more favorable situations on defense. So, it was about settling in and executing and doing what we do.”
On Devin Smith stepping in for Michael Gallup …
“Devin has done a good job with the opportunities we have given him. Obviously, he made some big plays last week and he’s comfortable, he’s confident, he knows what we are asking him to do. When he gets chances, he cashes in on them.”
