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10:16 AM Wed, Aug 27, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips
Rookie TE Martellus Bennett recalls a rather harsh response after asking Jason Witten for help early in training camp: "I'm not going to be [beep] doing this all the [beep] time. You've got to know what the [beep] to do."
The message: Bennett better handle his business before he expects to get much help from the Pro Bowler at his position.
It's not like Witten, the game's best all-around tight end, is worried about the second-round pick cutting into his playing time or eventually replacing him in the starting lineup. Far from it. Witten wants Bennett to fulfill his potential, and he doesn't think babying the Aggie will help him.
It's the same way Dan Campbell, another Aggie tight end, treated Witten when he was a rookie. It's a tough love form of leadership.
"He says it all the time: 'Jason doesn't like me,'" Witten said of Bennett. "It's not that I don't like him. It's just that I'm letting him figure it out. He's got to figure it out first, and once he does, obviously that's where I come along.
"He's got a good position coach that pushes him, obviously. When he's ready for it, I'll definitely be able to talk to him and push his buttons. But you've got to figure it out first, and he's well on his way to doing that."
Bennett has been the target of a bunch of criticism during his first NFL preseason. He was a somewhat controversial pick, since nobody considered tight end a need position for the Cowboys until they shipped Anthony Fasano to Miami right before the draft. And he's a familiar face to folks in Texas after a college career at A&M that didn't live up to the recruiting hype, at least in part because of Coach Fran's awful passing game.
Of course, there's also the Hard Knocks factor. Bennett, a goofy character, has come across looking childish more than a few times on the show. The clip of him looking in the camera and laughing after a pre-practice pep talk from TE coach John Garrett came across especially bad. A relatively lengthy debate with the position coach about tucking in his shirt during practice wasn't much better.
The hope is that some of Witten's professionalism will rub off on Bennett. Witten will wait until Bennett "gets it" to start working with him on the finer points of playing tight end in the NFL.
"You're a young rookie and think highly of yourself - not in a bad way, but you have a lot of confidence - sometimes it's easy to get caught up in all that," Witten said. "My job is to just to let him know what he's got here with the opportunity he has."
Bennett, who has had back-to-back good games after a stinker in his preseason debut, believes he's changed Witten's perception of him. Bennett knows his body language looks bad sometimes, but he insists that his laidback style shouldn't be considered a sign that he doesn't care enough about football.
Body language has never been an issue for Witten. Wade Phillips jokes that Witten "goes full speed in walkthroughs." Witten's relentless tempo, whether he's running plays on the practice field or taking notes in the meeting room, has made quite an impression on Bennett, too.
Bennett is trying to find a balance between following Witten's lead and being himself.
"A lot of stuff I take from him, but when it comes to the way I move and the way I do things, it's still me," Bennett said. "I've been doing it like that for 21 years. I've been pretty productive.
"Just to pick up the tempo and come with a different mentality, seeing his attitude and the way he comes to work every day, that's stuff that you can pick up. But some stuff you just can't change."
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips
Rookie TE Martellus Bennett recalls a rather harsh response after asking Jason Witten for help early in training camp: "I'm not going to be [beep] doing this all the [beep] time. You've got to know what the [beep] to do."
The message: Bennett better handle his business before he expects to get much help from the Pro Bowler at his position.
It's not like Witten, the game's best all-around tight end, is worried about the second-round pick cutting into his playing time or eventually replacing him in the starting lineup. Far from it. Witten wants Bennett to fulfill his potential, and he doesn't think babying the Aggie will help him.
It's the same way Dan Campbell, another Aggie tight end, treated Witten when he was a rookie. It's a tough love form of leadership.
"He says it all the time: 'Jason doesn't like me,'" Witten said of Bennett. "It's not that I don't like him. It's just that I'm letting him figure it out. He's got to figure it out first, and once he does, obviously that's where I come along.
"He's got a good position coach that pushes him, obviously. When he's ready for it, I'll definitely be able to talk to him and push his buttons. But you've got to figure it out first, and he's well on his way to doing that."
Bennett has been the target of a bunch of criticism during his first NFL preseason. He was a somewhat controversial pick, since nobody considered tight end a need position for the Cowboys until they shipped Anthony Fasano to Miami right before the draft. And he's a familiar face to folks in Texas after a college career at A&M that didn't live up to the recruiting hype, at least in part because of Coach Fran's awful passing game.
Of course, there's also the Hard Knocks factor. Bennett, a goofy character, has come across looking childish more than a few times on the show. The clip of him looking in the camera and laughing after a pre-practice pep talk from TE coach John Garrett came across especially bad. A relatively lengthy debate with the position coach about tucking in his shirt during practice wasn't much better.
The hope is that some of Witten's professionalism will rub off on Bennett. Witten will wait until Bennett "gets it" to start working with him on the finer points of playing tight end in the NFL.
"You're a young rookie and think highly of yourself - not in a bad way, but you have a lot of confidence - sometimes it's easy to get caught up in all that," Witten said. "My job is to just to let him know what he's got here with the opportunity he has."
Bennett, who has had back-to-back good games after a stinker in his preseason debut, believes he's changed Witten's perception of him. Bennett knows his body language looks bad sometimes, but he insists that his laidback style shouldn't be considered a sign that he doesn't care enough about football.
Body language has never been an issue for Witten. Wade Phillips jokes that Witten "goes full speed in walkthroughs." Witten's relentless tempo, whether he's running plays on the practice field or taking notes in the meeting room, has made quite an impression on Bennett, too.
Bennett is trying to find a balance between following Witten's lead and being himself.
"A lot of stuff I take from him, but when it comes to the way I move and the way I do things, it's still me," Bennett said. "I've been doing it like that for 21 years. I've been pretty productive.
"Just to pick up the tempo and come with a different mentality, seeing his attitude and the way he comes to work every day, that's stuff that you can pick up. But some stuff you just can't change."
