What Jason Garrett Had to Say About Daniel Jones Plus a Glimpse into His Play-Calling Philosophies

Back on October 31, 2019, Jason Garrett, then the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, was on a conference call with the Giants media. Garrett was asked about then-rookie quarterback (and future pupil) Daniel Jones and he also offered some insight into his play-calling practices, specific to play-action.

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Back on October 31, 2019, Jason Garrett, then the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, was on a conference call with the Giants media. Garrett was asked about then-rookie quarterback (and future pupil) Daniel Jones and he also offered some insight into his play-calling practices, specific to play-action.

Here's what Garrett had to say on that call.  

RE: His impressions of Daniel Jones.

Garrett: Yeah, just a really impressive college player. It’s not surprising to us that he was drafted as high as he was. Just a really talented guy. 

He’s big, he’s athletic, he can throw the ball, he can make plays in the pocket, he can make plays out in space with his feet. He keeps his eyes up, makes a lot of plays when he’s on the move throwing the ball down the field, plays with a competitive spirit. 

He’s someone who seems calm and poised and handling it all really well and getting better and better every week. We are very impressed by him.

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RE: The use of play-action on offense. 

Garrett: Yeah, I think play-action is a really important part of playing good offensive football. 

You want to attack a defense in different ways—you want to run it, you want to throw it, you want to be able to throw it different ways, quick game, intermediate, deep, in the drop back game but also in the play-action movement game. 

When we’re able to do that and be balanced and attack in a lot of different ways, that’s probably when we play our best.

RE: Elaborate on what being “balanced” means--run-pass ratio, or on how the offense attacks the field? 

Garrett: I think all of it. If you can only do one thing as an offense, ultimately defenses and defensive coordinators do a great job of taking that away from you. 

So, the best offenses we’ve been around are ones that can run the ball and throw the ball and run it different ways--inside, outside, zone, gap, run it to different guys—and the same thing with the passing game. 

If you have variety with your passing game and you can throw the ball different ways to different people and execute all of those things, that’s what the best offenses are able to do.