New coach Garrett optimistic Cowboys can turn it around

Jason Garrett decided to take the nothing-new approach.

"We're just banging away," he said during his conference call with the New York media. "Just another Wednesday."

Well, there haven't been many Wednesdays like this one in Dallas. It was the first time the Cowboys were on the field with their new interim head coach, trying to dig out from under a 1-7 start and restore some semblance of dignity to their season. But even before they took the field in full pads - a rarity at this point in the season for any team but, Garrett said, "how we'll do things going forward" - the new head honcho presented a road map to respectability.

"What we're going to do is come in and outline expectations for our football team, players and coaches alike, and then go implement those things," Garrett said.

Sounds simple enough. Like finding a buried treasure. But saying things doesn't make them happen in the NFL, and the Cowboys know that.

"Our actions have to speak louder than our words, and that's the mentality that we have to have and that was the way we discussed it," tight end Jason Witten said. "We haven't gone and done those things in the last few weeks and so none of that is going to be acceptable. We're going to fight, we're going to play hard, and we believe we can get it turned around, but it's got to happen now. You can't just be talking in the media and [giving] lip service. It's got to be actions."

Witten said that for the last few weeks the Cowboys have come to work on Mondays thinking that this would be the week they would turn things around. "Obviously that has not been the case," he said. Now that Wade Phillips has been fired and owner Jerry Jones has issued a challenge to the entire organization that no job is safe, the Cowboys have gone from thinking that this could be the week to realizing that this had better be the week.

"Anytime you just put it out there like that and set the guidelines, a team has to be all in," Witten said. "That's our mentality. We're 1-7 and there is no mistaking that and we're going to play hard together. There's no finger-pointing . . . Obviously this isn't what any of us intended, but this is where we're at and we've got to move forward with this."

The Giants are expecting a renewed spirit from the Cowboys on Sunday, even after they seemingly gave up against the Packers last Sunday night (an aspersion that Witten did not contradict). A coaching change can breathe new energy into a team. But the Cowboys are still without quarterback Tony Romo and other key players, so enthusiasm might be easier to muster than a decent performance from backup Jon Kitna.

Not exactly the situation Garrett dreamed of stepping into for his debut as an NFL head coach.

"I don't feel tense at all," Garrett said. "I'm excited about the opportunity that we have, I really am. We have a good group of players and coaches down here and we're working hard to do things the right way and get the Cowboys going again. That's what our focus is. I'm very passionate and enthusiastic about playing and coaching football, I feel very fortunate for the job that I have, and we're excited about the opportunity and the challenges ahead."