There's been a lot of talk about effort, and this current Dallas Cowboys team. Anybody who has watched their games has to have some question in their minds about whether this team is putting it all out on the field. In fact, the Q-word has been bandied about - quitters. Have the Cowboys quit? Coach Joe DeCamillis was on 790 The Zone in Atlanta and gave his thoughts, transcribed thanks to Sports Radio Interviews. (more Joe D. at the link).
On the Cowboys being labeled quitters:
"Yeah that’s not a good situation, no question about it, and we’ve just got to get it rectified. It’s a shame because there’s a lot of good, really tough guys that do it right and play hard, we’ve just got to get it reigned in and get that moniker off our guys, that’s for sure."
On if he feels he can identify the guys in the locker room who may or may not be mentally equipped to fight until the end this season:
"Well I think anytime you start questioning people’s effort or question whether they’re injured – those are not tangible things that you can see. You know, if you miss an assignment you can say hey we’ve got to get that corrected. Those things are hard to see, and you’ve got to really be careful about it, and you’ve got to have a good relationship with your players to be able to point those things out in a way that you can get it corrected. That’s the main thing. As funny as it sounds, I don’t know that effort’s a huge problem. We’ve just executed so poorly that that’s really the biggest issue. We’ve got to be that much better."
Key statement:
As funny as it sounds, I don’t know that effort’s a huge problem. We’ve just executed so poorly that that’s really the biggest issue.
I'm not sure about the effort, I'm not there, but the execution has been atrocious.