- Messages
- 5,432
- Reaction score
- 0
Keith Brooking feels low on Cowboys' priority list, but thinks he has at least one more year in him
11:30 PM CST on Wednesday, January 12, 2011
SportsDayDFW.com
Dallas Cowboys linebacker Keith Brooking was interviewed on KESN-FM on Wednesday to discuss his offseason and the Cowboys’ coaching situation. Here are some highlights:
The season is over for the Cowboys. What are you up to now? Are you at Valley Ranch?
I’m about as far away from there as I can be right now. So, that’s part of the offseason: you just got to get away. I mean, obviously, you know, we kind of made the bed from our season and we got to sleep in it right now and sit at home and watch the playoffs. It’s pretty disappointing but we, obviously, had a big part of doing that this year so that’s where we are right now, but no, I’m just far away from there as I can be.
How closely are you following Jason Garrett’s and the Cowboys search for a new defensive coordinator?
I haven’t really followed it all that closely. I know that they’ve interviewed some guys; I did hear about Coach [Ray] Sherman and them not bringing him back. But as far as any decisions from other coaches, I haven’t heard anything about that yet.
What were your thoughts on Paul Pasqualoni when he took over as defensive coordinator mid-way through the season?
The defense generated more turnovers but still allowed a lot of points.
Yea, I think that he did, considering the circumstances…I mean, he’s been in a tough position as far as we were obviously playing under Wade’s system for eight games of the season and then keeping of that and yet, kind of putting his stamp on that as well, I thought he did a great job of juggling that, so to speak.
And I think the biggest change in what we did with Paul was we were facing the quarterback a lot in coverage. We were able to make a break on the ball and that was one of the reasons that we were getting those turnovers. Facing the quarterback means more zone coverage as opposed to playing as a man team, which we did under Wade. That was a lot of what we did, defensively, on the back end in coverage.
I think Paul did a great job. Turnovers increased. I think we were opportunistic; we put our offense in a much better situation and I think what you saw were more wins. That’s a huge statistic in this league, week in and week out and year in and year out. You see teams that are successful, teams that win, they win that turnover ratio so we did a better job of that which equaled more wins.
This is the last year of your contract. Do you see your future here with the Dallas Cowboys?
That’s hard to say, it really is. I mean, I don’t know. I think that I’m way down on their priority list right now as far as the decisions they’re going to make, so I haven’t been told anything. Obviously, they have bigger fish to fry right now with their decisions on the coaching staff.
We’ll see; I can tell you this that I have one more year in me, at least that. I feel strongly about that and I’m realistic about it as well. I was a little banged up this year; the last four games of the year, especially with my foot. I was out there on one leg pretty much but it feels better already and I feel like I can kick one more in, for sure. We’ll see where it goes, there’s a lot of them, certainly, right now and everything. There’s a lot that has to take place and I’ll see how that plays out and we’ll go from there.
11:30 PM CST on Wednesday, January 12, 2011
SportsDayDFW.com
Dallas Cowboys linebacker Keith Brooking was interviewed on KESN-FM on Wednesday to discuss his offseason and the Cowboys’ coaching situation. Here are some highlights:
The season is over for the Cowboys. What are you up to now? Are you at Valley Ranch?
I’m about as far away from there as I can be right now. So, that’s part of the offseason: you just got to get away. I mean, obviously, you know, we kind of made the bed from our season and we got to sleep in it right now and sit at home and watch the playoffs. It’s pretty disappointing but we, obviously, had a big part of doing that this year so that’s where we are right now, but no, I’m just far away from there as I can be.
How closely are you following Jason Garrett’s and the Cowboys search for a new defensive coordinator?
I haven’t really followed it all that closely. I know that they’ve interviewed some guys; I did hear about Coach [Ray] Sherman and them not bringing him back. But as far as any decisions from other coaches, I haven’t heard anything about that yet.
What were your thoughts on Paul Pasqualoni when he took over as defensive coordinator mid-way through the season?
The defense generated more turnovers but still allowed a lot of points.
Yea, I think that he did, considering the circumstances…I mean, he’s been in a tough position as far as we were obviously playing under Wade’s system for eight games of the season and then keeping of that and yet, kind of putting his stamp on that as well, I thought he did a great job of juggling that, so to speak.
And I think the biggest change in what we did with Paul was we were facing the quarterback a lot in coverage. We were able to make a break on the ball and that was one of the reasons that we were getting those turnovers. Facing the quarterback means more zone coverage as opposed to playing as a man team, which we did under Wade. That was a lot of what we did, defensively, on the back end in coverage.
I think Paul did a great job. Turnovers increased. I think we were opportunistic; we put our offense in a much better situation and I think what you saw were more wins. That’s a huge statistic in this league, week in and week out and year in and year out. You see teams that are successful, teams that win, they win that turnover ratio so we did a better job of that which equaled more wins.
This is the last year of your contract. Do you see your future here with the Dallas Cowboys?
That’s hard to say, it really is. I mean, I don’t know. I think that I’m way down on their priority list right now as far as the decisions they’re going to make, so I haven’t been told anything. Obviously, they have bigger fish to fry right now with their decisions on the coaching staff.
We’ll see; I can tell you this that I have one more year in me, at least that. I feel strongly about that and I’m realistic about it as well. I was a little banged up this year; the last four games of the year, especially with my foot. I was out there on one leg pretty much but it feels better already and I feel like I can kick one more in, for sure. We’ll see where it goes, there’s a lot of them, certainly, right now and everything. There’s a lot that has to take place and I’ll see how that plays out and we’ll go from there.