IRVING, Texas – Wide receiver Kevin Ogletree described his lack of urgency in the waning seconds of Sunday's loss to the Ravens as a personal mistake.
Ogletree finished without a catch on four targets, was called for illegal shifts and neither he nor Miles Austin seemed to be in much of a hurry after the final pass play of the game. Ogletree and Austin ran vertical routes when quarterback Tony Romo threw to Dez Bryant on a slant with more than 20 seconds remaining, yet the Cowboys couldn't get another play off before calling a timeout for Dan Bailey's field goal attempt.
Ogletree said he thought calling a timeout after the pass was an option, but he didn't assume one would be called.
"I just know for the first time, five minutes ago, heard about the lack of aggressiveness to get back to the line of scrimmage," Ogletree said. "I know that's my job to get there and get to the line. I know Miles and I both feel bad about what happened because we know the outcome. We know we missed the field goal and how close that was and how precious yardage was at the end of the day. So getting back to the line of scrimmage, maybe getting the play called, I think this will all be great for us going forward in learning a lesson."
Head coach Jason Garrett said he wouldn't have run vertical routes on the outside if he could do it over. He said the plan was to get everyone back to the line and clock the ball, but he didn't communicate his plan well enough.
Though Garrett took the blame for the play call, he said returning to the line in time to run a play or clock the ball shouldn't be an issue.
"They just didn't get back quickly enough, and trust me, we talked to them about that and the urgency they need to have," Garrett said. "We have to do a better job in that situation. It starts with me, and hopefully when we're in a similar situation in the future, we'll get it done better."
Ogletree said as time was running down, he was worried about what play was being called next, but admitted he could have managed that better by hustling back to the line, in which case the Cowboys might have had a chance to run another play. He said similar circumstances are run through in practice, and he could have done a better job.
"We weren't surprised by that situation," Ogletree said. "We have to be better at handling it and managing those situations and we'll continue to work on that. That's a major emphasis right now, just because of how that went. We think we could have handled that better just on how we prepare and how we go about it."
As for the illegal shifts prior to the final chaotic 30 seconds, Ogletree said the officials performed a scrupulous check while he was in motion. Other offensive players weren't completely set when he started to shift.
"If a guy is moving a couple of fingers, hasn't put every bit of pressure on his fingers on the line, he's technically not set, so I can't move until that happens," Ogletree said. "I have to do a better job at taking a look at that game plan and really just executing."
He said the coaches did well relaying the receivers' responsibilities regarding alignment, and he felt like the penalties let his teammates down.
"I really think what happened yesterday is going to be helpful going forward, just because I know what type of guys we have," Ogletree said. "I know that feeling I have right now, it's going to be good for us."
