Jason Garrett press conference: a receiver by committee, if you will

It’s Thursday of a game week, that means head coach Jason Garrett addressed the media. Here’s what he had to say. (All Garrett answers are paraphrases of what he said and not direct quotes).

A fast start is key for the Cowboys (and obviously anyone)

Jason Garrett noted how important a fast start is for the state of the team. He discussed how you obviously want to get a three and out on defense and score right away, but the nature of the NFL is that things don’t always go as planned.

Leighton Vander Esch and Sean Lee’s lockers are next to one another, but it’s not intentional

The rookie and The General have their lockers next to one another. Jason Garrett is known for sending subliminal messages of this kind, but he simply said that it was a good thing that they spend time together and nothing at all orchestrated with them ending up there.

DeMarcus Lawrence’s shoulder is fine

DeMarcus Lawrence appeared on Wednesday’s injury report with a shoulder issue, but he was a full participant in practice. Jason Garrett noted that it’s “something he’s been dealing with” but been able to practice so all seems fine there.

Byron Jones’ experience playing corner has certainly helped him

Pro Football Focus graded Byron Jones as the best cornerback in the NFL through three weeks, and naturally this seemed like praise for Kris Richard (who helped orchestrate the position switch for Byron). Jason Garrett praised how well Byron Jones has been and seemed to leave it at that.

Jason Garrett can’t remember the exact date, but initial conversations at end of the season were part of move for Byron to corner

When pressed on exactly when the Cowboys decided to move Byron, Jason Garrett said that he couldn’t remember the exact date but that it was right around when offseason planning began. He said the Cowboys felt like he has the capability to play corner in the NFL and felt good about where Xavier Woods was to compete at safety which helped round out the idea.

Garrett also declined to fully answer if it was before or after Kris Richard’s hire

When pressed further, in fact pressed more specifically, Jason Garrett was outright asked if this move was decided on before or after the Cowboys hired Kris Richard.

“It was probably in that initial process” was how the head coach fielded that one noting that Kris Richard’s opinion definitely mattered.

Lions running backs will be a challenge

Jason Garrett gave praise to Kerryon Johnson, LeGarrette Blount, and Theo Riddick. Shocker here, but they’re all great football players and Jason Garrett is readying the Cowboys for them.

There’s no lack of confidence on offense, even if Allen Hurns “expressed frustration”

The Athletic wrote about Allen Hurns feeling like he deserves the ball more (this was not at all said in an arrogant way), and naturally that made its way to Jason Garrett. When asked if this was an issue or if the offense was suffering from any lack of confidence Jason Garrett said “not at all” and that Wednesday was a really good practice.

The Cowboys want to be a “receiver by committee, if you will”

Dallas has been using a variety of wide receivers (they have seven on the roster to be fair) so far this season, and many have championed the idea of them settling in on some in more permanent roles. Jason Garrett didn’t really seem to hip to this idea as he specifically said the Cowboys wanted a “receiver by committee.”

The Cowboys are trying to work their way through punt coverage problems

A bit of an underrated statistic drop goes to ESPN’s Todd Archer who noted during a question to Jason Garrett that the Cowboys have already given up more yards on punt returns through three games in 2018 than they did all of last season. That’s insane.

Jason Garrett didn’t really dive too far into this noting that the Cowboys simply have to do a better job.