C
Cr122
Guest
Posted on 09/28/2011 by torsborn
By Tom Orsborn
Martellus Bennett was roundly criticized for a fourth quarter end zone drop against the Redskins, but Jason Garrett on Wednesday defended the tight end from Texas A&M, saying Tony Romo was partly to blame for the play not resulting in a touchdown.
Romo threw to Bennett’s back shoulder, and the ball went off his hands. The 6-foot-6, 260-pound Bennett failed to attack the ball even though he had a huge size advantage over 5-9 cornerback Josh Wilson.
“I think if you were to ask Tony, I think Tony would say, ‘I would have liked to have gotten that ball higher to him,’ ” Garrett said at his daily press briefing in Irving. “We had a size advantage. We really got what we wanted on that. Martellus is a big guy with long arms who can go get the football. The ball was a little down. Certainly from Martellus’ standpoint, he says, ‘Hey, I should have made that play.’ But I think if you analyze it, Tony would say, ‘I should have thrown it higher and given him a chance to make the play over his head.’ ”
The Cowboys took Bennett in the second round in 2008 hoping he could be a dual-threat as a tight end, but it’s clear now that his role in the NFL will be as a blocker. Bennett caught four TD passes as a rookie, but he hasn’t had any since.
“I think he’s done a good job,” Garrett said. “Martellus has a role on this team that’s really important. We call is ’12 personnel,’ we use two tight ends a lot, and Martellus has typically been the other tight end playing (opposite) Jason Witten. Witten is obviously a marquee player in this league, one of the great tight ends in the league right now, a seven-time Pro Bowler, so he’s the guy who gets the ball a lot. Martellus, in the role he’s got, blocks more and is more of a complimentary receiver. I think if you watch him as a run blocker and a pass protector, he shows up pretty good each and every week. He has grown as a player – still a young guy – but he’s going about it the right way.
We look forward to him continue to grow as a player.”
By Tom Orsborn
Martellus Bennett was roundly criticized for a fourth quarter end zone drop against the Redskins, but Jason Garrett on Wednesday defended the tight end from Texas A&M, saying Tony Romo was partly to blame for the play not resulting in a touchdown.
Romo threw to Bennett’s back shoulder, and the ball went off his hands. The 6-foot-6, 260-pound Bennett failed to attack the ball even though he had a huge size advantage over 5-9 cornerback Josh Wilson.
“I think if you were to ask Tony, I think Tony would say, ‘I would have liked to have gotten that ball higher to him,’ ” Garrett said at his daily press briefing in Irving. “We had a size advantage. We really got what we wanted on that. Martellus is a big guy with long arms who can go get the football. The ball was a little down. Certainly from Martellus’ standpoint, he says, ‘Hey, I should have made that play.’ But I think if you analyze it, Tony would say, ‘I should have thrown it higher and given him a chance to make the play over his head.’ ”
The Cowboys took Bennett in the second round in 2008 hoping he could be a dual-threat as a tight end, but it’s clear now that his role in the NFL will be as a blocker. Bennett caught four TD passes as a rookie, but he hasn’t had any since.
“I think he’s done a good job,” Garrett said. “Martellus has a role on this team that’s really important. We call is ’12 personnel,’ we use two tight ends a lot, and Martellus has typically been the other tight end playing (opposite) Jason Witten. Witten is obviously a marquee player in this league, one of the great tight ends in the league right now, a seven-time Pro Bowler, so he’s the guy who gets the ball a lot. Martellus, in the role he’s got, blocks more and is more of a complimentary receiver. I think if you watch him as a run blocker and a pass protector, he shows up pretty good each and every week. He has grown as a player – still a young guy – but he’s going about it the right way.
We look forward to him continue to grow as a player.”
