Jason Garrett reacts to Dallas Cowboys’ win, two legends: ‘They represent everything you want’
Jason Garrett was pretty much the same kind of coach Sunday night as he is after every Dallas Cowboys’ game.
After the Cowboys snapped a three-game losing streak with an impressive, all-around torching of the Los Angeles Rams 44-21 at AT&T Stadium Garrett reacted with his usual understated, level-headed answers that have often been mocked by media and fans for nearly a decade.
Here’s a portion of Garrett’s post-game press conference from the Cowboys’ transcription service:
On today’s game being a blowout
Obviously, they are a great team, they have a great coaching staff and they do a hell of a job. I have a great respect for them. But this game wasn’t going to be about them, it was going to be about us and how we prepare and how we play. We knew the challenge were going to be there for us in all phases and we needed to play at a high level and we did that today.
On scoring touchdowns on four consecutive drives. What was the success?
Obviously, a big part of this game was to play the line of scrimmage and control the football and be physical. They’ve got an outstanding front. They’ve got lead players up there and they challenged our guys to block them and they did a hell of a job. Zeke played the ball really well, obviously Tony Pollard did a good job for us, so that combination was really good for us, and then you get so much off of that. The first touchdown was a big-time throw by Dak [Prescott] and a good catch by Witten. We just did a really good job cashing those drives game, and it was going to be a game where you want to be balanced and you want to attack both ways and then control the line of scrimmage and you have to make time and throws with the passing game, and we were able to do that.
Coming into the game, what were your thoughts on the team, especially coming off three losses and how they handled it
Our guys are off the charts. We have big time players on our team, we have great leadership on our team. We just came to work. We worked hard all week long, and just did everything they could to prepare the right way. And that’s really what the focus was. You come to work Monday, let’s have a great Monday, you’re off on Tuesday, we need to do everything we need to do to get ready for Wednesday and on and on and on. I just thought they were locked in, they were honed in, they did the things that were necessary to go play well against a really good football team.
On what did the two 90-plus yard drives do to the mentality of the team
Those are big. Those are big and our ability to run the ball, our ability to make timely throws, and keep those drives alive and the significant. Again, this game was all about control the line of scrimmage, and the big guys upfront handing the ball to Zeke Elliott, and I thought those guys did a fantastic job. Dak had an opportunity to make throws. He and the tight end and the receivers cashed in. At timely moments to keep drives alive, and at timely moments to cash in at the end of drives. It was a good mix of run and pass and really good drives and those are important drives for us.
On Witten’s catch and Sean Lee’s performance and what those two players gave the team today
They are great football players and they’ve been great football players for the franchise for a long time. They’re guys that we rely on to play at a very high level and also have a very high impact on our team and they do that every day. They are ready for their opportunities and they cash in on them. Witten got very productive early in the ball game and caught a lot of different balls, and just made a hell of a play on that touchdown. And Dak had to drive the ball a little bit and caught it a little bit behind him, but Witten reaches back and makes the play and allows us to cash in on that drive, convert a third down and score a touchdown, after we had a good drive, and that’s big, that’s big early on the game. Obviously, we are up a couple of scores prior to the half and then Sean Lee makes that big time play. Sean [Lee] has been a ball guy ever since he’s been here. He’s made a number of those kind of plays throughout his career. If you think about both those guys they represent everything you want in your organization, everything you want in terms of preparation and love for the game, their willingness to put the team first and then their performance and how much they love it and how much they care about it and I think that was reflective in our performance today.
Did he knew Sean Lee was going to play today on his way to the stadium?
We anticipated he was able to play, yes.
Thoughts on the coin toss controversy and the possibility he would be kicking off twice
Dak had told me they used the word defer out there. So, we felt like we had a case there. They needed to kind of hear and I was coming in the locker room and heard Erin Andrews made me aware of it and there was some audio they were going to defer it back to.
On the job the offensive line did today
Like we talked about the challenge was going to be upfront. They have big-time players up there. That Aaron Donald is a hell of football player and is hard to block. And they have a number of guys, when you get into one-on-one situations, you see them win, time and time again, week after week. So, it was a challenge for us to block them in the running game, it was a challenge for us to protect for Dak. In the past, our guys stepped up over and over again. I do think those long-sustained drives works to our benefit. I think we were able to wear them down a bit. Again, a good mix of run and pass. I think Kellen [Moore] did a great job calling the game, getting everybody involved, and allowed us to be a physical offense, and then when we were able to make some passing plays in the middle of the game we were able to do that.
On his previous thoughts about the defense pressing too much and how they did today
I just thought it was outstanding. I thought the challenge for them was the run. I don’t know what the stats ended up being, but they weren’t able to run the ball well against us and that was what we needed to do. So much of that goes back to discipline, and fundamentally physical and keeping the ball in tact. All the things you preach from day one. Our guys did a great job in preparation of understanding that, they did a great job carrying that in preparation of the ball game. So much of what offenses do in the NFL comes off of what they do in the running game. However the ways team run it these days, that’s a big part of playing good offensive football. We were able to take that away from them and make them one-dimensional offense and that certainly works to our advantage.
On how big of a momentum is this game going into Philly next week
The biggest thing for us is do what we always do and learn from the game. Obviously, it was a good win for us, but there are plenty of things we’ve got to address and clean up as we go forward. You go off the good stuff and clean up the other stuff. You get your eyes forward and make it to a one-game season on Monday. Let’s have a good Monday tomorrow and that’s how we are going to prepare for next week and that’s going to be the big challenge for us.
On the team playing different when they have a lead
I don’t know if I can make that generalization. One of the things we try to instill in our team is that you have to play at that high level no matter what the circumstances are. And whether you are behind, the score is tied or you are on your way, the circumstances are you have to strive at playing at a high level. That is certainly what we try to do. There’s no question in starting off and being ahead of the game. It certainly works to your advantage. You want to start off fast, and you want to play well in the middle and you want to finish strong.
On after the three straight losses is there a sense of relief
We just try to focus on what we need to do each week. The best teams are able to do that. They put the wins and losses behind them, and prepare for the next challenge and our team did a good job at that this week.
Do you think with the win, there is a freedom moving forward?
Again, we do our best and focus on what we need to do each week. You certainly don’t want to take anything for granted after you have a good win and certainly don’t want to have a hangover after a loss. Somehow someway you have to process it and learn from it and move forward. The best teams are able to do that and that is what we strive to do.
On Kai Forbath’s performance
He was really solid with his field goals. Our offense made some good drives and he was able to cash them in. We will keep working on getting those kickoffs right.
Was the defense more prepared to stop the run? It was a dramatic reversal from last year’s playoff game against the Rams
I think our defense did a really good job. They played well together and obviously that was the point of emphasis for us. We had to stop the run and that’s really a point of emphasis for us every week. You try to make the opposing offense one dimension and again that works to your advantage defensively. But the guys did a great job executing the plan. They were fundamentally sound, they were disciplined, they were physical on how the ran the ball, the tackled well. That runner is a heck of a player, he’s a big-time player, so every time the ball snaps and the ball is in his hands, he’s dangerous. So, I thought we did a good job locking, homing in, doing what we need to do to stop the ball game.
Did you know the Eagles won earlier today?
I didn’t really follow it.
On Amari Cooper., Michael Gallup and Randall Cobb not playing a big part in what they did offensively today
It was just one of those game. Obviously, we just ran the ball a lot. We ran the retractable to each of those guys in the passing game and they needed to step up when their number was called. Amari made a big-time play, I think it was a third down and Dak was right in the middle of the field. Those guys are always ready for their opportunity. Their pros, they understand what we are trying to do, we are trying to win as a team. It’s not about numbers, or numbers of catches you have, or who you are. It’s when I get my chance, I better be ready for it. They do a hell of job about that.
On Tavon Austin’s touchdown
“It was a big-time play. Obviously, Dak made a big time play on the outset and was escaped from the free rusher. Give him credit for that to be able to keep that play alive and be aware and keep his eyes up on Tavon was big. Tavon is pretty fast when he gets out there, so he was going to catch him.
Updates on Luke Gifford and Joe Thomas’ injuries?
“It doesn’t look good for Luke. I think he has a fracture up on his arm, so we will get more information on that, it doesn’t look good for him. I think Joe’s going to be okay. I need to get more information on that. C.J. Goodwin also hurt his thumb, so we’re looking into that and seeing how he is after this ball game.
Do you bring up the fact to the team that if they win this week, they win the East?
Again, we don’t talk too much about that, but obviously they need to know where you are, but then it comes back to us and our preparation and what we need to do.
