News: ST: Safety Jeff Heath is ready for more of an opportunity on defense

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Jeff Heath made the roster as an undrafted rookie free agent. A core special teams player, he has played in all five games. Now, with Will Allen's departure, Heath might get a chance to play some safety.

Jason Garrett mentioned Heath's name Wednesday when asked about Allen's release.

"J.J. Wilcox has been our starter for the last couple of weeks, and Jeff Heath has been a guy who has really emerged throughout training camp and the early part of this season, so we want to give those guys an opportunity to play,” Garrett said.

Heath has played only 15 plays on defense -- all in mop-up duty against the Rams. He said he is practicing at both strong and free safety.

"It is a big opportunity," Heath said. "I talked to the defensive back coach [Jerome Henderson on Wednesday], and he basically just said they want to see me play more and see what I can do. It’s unfortunate that one of our guys had to get let go for that to happen. But I learned from Will while he was here, and I wish him the best. If this means a bigger role for me and more opportunity for me, I’m ready to step up."

Heath has played 94 special teams snaps, with a fumble recovery and four tackles.

"I’ll still be on special teams," Heath said. "That’ll be the No. 1 priority every week, because that’s what I’m going to be doing every week for sure."

-- Charean Williams

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