The Dallas Cowboys are coming off their worst season in more than 25 years, but everyone knows their 4-12 record was mainly a result of injuries. But fluke or no fluke, veteran tight end Jason Witten thinks the horrendous year will help drive the team in 2016.
“I look at it as one year at a time and there’s expectations that I have and the team has for me in how they expect me to play, and I want to meet that and probably exceed that,” Witten said over the weekend, via Jon Machota of The Dallas Morning News. “Every year I start this offseason by evaluating that and how I can do better and things I can do to play at that level again for another year.
“So I’m excited about that, I think we’re more motivated now than we’ve ever been, and that gets you anxious about going into the season.”
Obviously, the most important missing piece last year was Tony Romo. The 36-year-old had surgery on his clavicle in March after he broke it multiple times during the season. Romo has been a full participant in offseason workouts, and Witten expects his presence to give the team a major life.
“Seeing him play and communicate out there, it just sets the tone of how our football team is going to be,” Witten explained. “I think he’s had a great offseason. … I know he’s worked really hard to come back and I don’t think he’s trying to come back to his old self, I think he’s coming back to try and be better.”
Though he played through a foot injury, Dez Bryant was also not himself. If both him and Romo are healthy, the Cowboys are going to make plays.
Beyond injuries, Dallas has also rid itself of at least one major locker room distraction. The addition of No. 4 overall pick Ezekiel Elliott could give the Cowboys a DeMarco Murray-like workhorse back, and we know how well that worked for them.
With veteran leadership like Romo and Witten and a little luck avoiding the injury bug, there’s no reason the Cowboys should not be the favorites to win the NFC East in 2016.
