IRVING, Texas -- What was the reaction of the Dallas Cowboys players that Jason Garrett will be back in 2014? Good.
“I think we’re continuing to try and win games and Jason’s done a great job putting us in position to have that opportunity,” quarterback Tony Romo said. “I think he’s done a great job. Anytime that happens, it’s always just a positive.”
Garrett’s stature in the locker room has grown more this season with his added involvement with the entire team. In his first two years he had to stay mostly with the offense as the playcaller, but this season he has been in more defensive and special-teams meetings.
“Just to know him personally and know that he cares about you off the field as well as on the field, it’s not like some coaches who absolutely don’t care about you,” defensive tackle Jason Hatcher said. “It’s all business with them. But you know at the end of the day that he cares about you individually and he understands the game. He’s a great coach. I know you guys think differently. Y’all rag him all the time, but I think he’s an awesome coach and I wish the best for him in the future and I’m glad the Cowboys will have him back. He deserves it.”
Safety Barry Church and cornerback Brandon Carr were not aware Garrett was even close to a hot seat.
“As a team, our coach, that’s our leader,” Carr said. “That’s someone that we trust in. We put everything that we believe. We do our best to fulfill our jobs and the expectations they have for us. For the owner to come and back the coach as well, it’s like a comfort level, but you’re not comfortable, if that makes sense. Knowing that this is the guy, this is the guy that’s going to be with you, now he can kind of clear his mind, get back on task. At the same time, we weren’t thinking of him being fired or anything like that, but it just kind of reaffirms just the trust from top to bottom that we have in our coach.”