One of the bigger stories this offseason centered on the leadership aspect of this team when Jason Hatcher said this team needed a stronger voice in the locker room, such as a guy like Baltimore's Ray Lewis.
While Hatcher or even Lewis wasn't mentioned by name, statements like that seemed to rub Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten the wrong way.
Speaking at an appearance for a new Dunkin Donuts store in nearby Southlake, Texas, Witten said leadership isn't the problem for this team, but focused more on the ability to finish games and finish the season.
"I don't want to speak for anybody but we've got plenty of leaders," Witten said."We've been in more situations where there's been more players-only meetings and that. The bottom line is that we've got to go and play better and win ballgames and find a way to do that. I think you do that by sticking together. I think you do that when you have a strong group of six, eight, 10 guys, whatever it is. Jay Ratliff, DeMarcus Ware, Miles Austin, of course [Tony] Romo and you add young guys in there that are big-time players.
"I get frustrated by that because we haven't been able to win those games, but we have the right types of guys that have given us every bit of what we need to be prepared to be in those situations. I'll put our eight guys against anybody in the league. The bottom line is we've not played well enough to win those games and we need to do that and we need to have that urgency."
While Witten knows the Cowboys were close in a few games last season, the tight end said that's the way most games go, especially in the playoffs.
"You've got to be your best at key times," Witten said. "You see the San Francisco-Giants game and it could've gone either way. The Ravens-New England game could've gone either way. You can't say you're close. You've got to go do it and prove it and make those plays in those key situations that allow you to win. We had too many games go the other way."
But again, Witten said it comes down to many other factors. To him, leadership isn't atop the list.
