Q: You guys have been moving the ball pretty well, and putting up a lot of yards but not scoring as many points as one might. Is it turnovers or red zone efficiency?A: No. It's mostly execution. We've had some passes that we either dropped, or I missed a guy on a throw, or we just didn't block one guy when a guy was open. When you look at it closely, sometimes it's just coming down with the ball. Other times, when you're putting it there, it's just close. I think Dez (Bryant) has a fade route, and if he goes up and catches it, you score 25 points, or whatever it's going to be. It's a different feeling in our last game. Each game, it comes down to a play or two. I missed Miles (Austin) earlier in the game, on a throw that I would make nine out of (ten) times. Those are what it comes down to, in order to score points in the National Football League. We've been doing that well at different times this year, and we just have to go out there and do a better job of it.
Q: The Giants had a lot of injuries in their secondary to start the season. What have you seen in the progression of those guys over the first seven weeks?A: They've gotten better. They're doing some stuff that can give you some trouble if you're not prepared for it. We're looking into some stuff we're going to try and do in order to match up. It'll be a good test for us.
Q: Has it eaten at you guys, that you haven't beaten the Giants at Cowboys Stadium yet?A: Well, I think you're always trying to win games at home. You're trying to win every game, really. You know that the home games give you a great opportunity to play in an environment that gives you a few more things on your side. I think they've been a tough team, and the Giants have been a really good football team for a while now. This year is no different. It's a great team, it's going to be a great challenge. We know what we're up against, and we have to play our best game.
Q: You guys got the ball out really quickly in the first week. Was that part of the game plan? Just to beat the Giants' pass-rush?A: No. It's just based on what they're doing defensively. Each play call has different things set up in it, that I can get to different things and do different stuff. I think what you'll find is we're going to kind of go off what the other team wants to do to us. We're going to adapt in that regard. It all depends on what teams are playing, which kind of stuff they want to get to, and that's what we're going to get to.
Q: Does it look to you as if the Giants have been able to up the quality of their defensive play since that opener?A: They played well in the opener. We just made a few plays that allowed us to win the game. If you look at it, the game sometimes comes down to a play or two. If your team makes that play, you have a great opportunity to win. The last couple of weeks are a great example for us. In Baltimore, the game comes down to a kick. If you make a kick, you did a lot of good things well that week. If you don't, then you didn't. That's why it's a team game, and I've said this before, it takes everybody. This last week, we need to get a stop at the end of the game, and our team got a stop. It's been good.
Q: This summer, Jerry Jones invited all Cowboys fans to "come see them kick the Giants' butts." What would you expect the crowd to be like this weekend?A: We understand how great the Giants are. It's a great football team that we're going up against. For us, it's as big a challenge as there is in the National Football League. They're going to come, ready to go. We know how good they are, we know that they're an exceptional team, and it's going to take everybody to do a great job this week to give us a chance.
Q: Do you take that kind of confidence from the owner as just a display of his enthusiasm?A: I think whenever you play in the National Football League, what you find, is that there's a lot of passion that goes around from players, to coaches, to owners, to fans and everybody who loves watching and talking about the game. It's just exciting for people to get ready for a game like this.
Q: Kevin Ogletree had a breakout game in the opening game. It seems that it really hasn't translated to the rest of the season. Are you surprised from what happened in that game that it hasn't led to more from him as the season has progressed?A: I just think that routes and catches and things of that nature have no bearing on how a receiver is doing, as much as the coverages that we're seeing. Each week, a team has a different philosophy, defensively. It seems kind of silly if you think you're going to throw the same routes, week-in and week-out, and that they're just going to work. That's what teams do. They come in and prepare for what you've done well, and they're trying to take that away. Trying to do something, offensively, that gives them trouble. That's where the game comes in.
Q: How different is your offense with a healthy Jason Witten compared to the first time around, when he was coming off that serious injury?A: Jason just gives you the capability to do a lot of different stuff in the pass protection, to the route-running, to the run game. He gives us a balance that allows us to expand the offense a little bit. It's a big deal, having him good to go.
