OXNARD, Calif. — Jason Witten is going to have to get used to not doing much of anything if he wants to play in the season opener next month. OXNARD, Calif. — Jason Witten is going to have to get
OXNARD, Calif. — Jason Witten is going to have to get used to not doing much of anything if he wants to play in the season opener next month.
Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday that his Pro Bowl tight end sustained a “slightly lacerated” spleen in the preseason opener Monday night against Oakland. The best way for Witten to heal is to remain as inactive as possible.
“It’s a very serious injury and we’re really taking this thing day by day,” Garrett said. “He has to be very still and idle for the next week to 10 days, so you won’t see him out here on the practice field. He won’t play in the game this week or next week. We’ve just got to make sure he heals as well as possible, as quickly as possible.”
Witten is expected to miss the rest of the preseason, starting with Saturday night’s game at San Diego. The Cowboys open the season in three weeks, Sept. 5 at the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants.
The coach said doctors will reassess Witten next week “after we’ve had a few days of him not doing anything.” Surgery would be an option if the spleen isn’t healing properly by then.
Witten apparently got hurt after he caught a pass from a scrambling Tony Romo and was immediately hit from the side by Oakland linebacker Rolando McClain. The play resulted in a 2-yard loss.
Witten has missed only one game in his nine NFL seasons. That was during his rookie season in 2003 when he had a broken jaw.
“Asking Wit to be still and idle is a hard thing, that’s the biggest challenge right now. But he has to do that, he just has to let time heal it,” Garrett said. “Jason has gotten off to a tremendous, tremendous start to training camp and laid a great foundation for himself. … He’s looked as good as I’ve seen him look since I’ve been around him.”
Witten is a seven-time Pro Bowler who is one of Romo’s best friends and one of the quarterback’s favorite targets. His 696 career receptions are second in team history behind only Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin’s 750.
Since Witten has started every game the past five seasons, and all but two games since Romo became the starter in 2006, the Cowboys aren’t concerned about him missing some time in training camp.
“I don’t think this, at the end of the day, him being away from our football team and off the practice field, is going to be that detrimental to him. In fact, I think it’s going to allow him to get his legs back a little bit, and be fresh and ready to go,” Garrett said. “We’re going to spin this thing positively and say hey this rest will help him.”
The Cowboy have signed free agent tight end Harry Flaherty, the nephew of the head coach and tight ends coach John Garrett. He signed with New Orleans as an undrafted rookie out of Princeton last season but was cut early in camp. To make room on the roster for Flaherty, the Cowboys waived injured guard Bill Nagy.
John Phillips, a fourth-year player, will likely fill in as a starter for Witten. Rookie tight end James Hanna will also get more work.
Harrison undergoes minor knee surgery
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison underwent left knee surgery on Wednesday, clouding his chances of returning in time for the start of the regular season.
Coach Mike Tomlin called the procedure “minor” but wouldn’t put a timetable on when Harrison will be ready. The four-time Pro Bowler and 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year will remain on the physically unable to perform list indefinitely.
The knee limited Harrison during Organized Team Activities in May but Tomlin dismissed the idea that Harrison could have undergone the surgery during the spring and simply put it off.
“We address things as they arise,” Tomlin said. “We felt like the procedure was necessary at this time, so we had it.”
The 34-year-old Harrison has been one of the most dominant defensive players in the league over the last half-decade but has dealt with a series of setbacks during the last 18 months. He had surgery in February 2011 to deal with a balky back and missed a month last season when he fractured his right orbital bone in a loss to the Houston Texans.
Hunter’s torn triceps latest hurdle for Denver
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Broncos defensive end Jason Hunter is out at least two months with a torn triceps and might miss the entire season.
Hunter is the team’s third defensive lineman to suffer a serious injury at training camp in the last two years. Elvis Dumervil missed the 2010 season with a torn chest muscle and Ty Warren missed last season with a torn triceps.
Hunter had supplanted Robert Ayers as the starter at left end two weeks ago. He could be replaced by rookie Derek Wolfe, the team’s top draft choice who had two sacks at Chicago last week, or Ayers.
Hunter was having a terrific camp and brought so much passion to his new position on the depth chart that he was getting into almost daily scuffles with the offensive linemen.
But it was in hitting a blocking sled where he apparently got hurt Tuesday, the same day starting right guard Chris Kuper broke his left forearm and rookie running back Ronnie Hillman aggravated his pulled right hamstring. Those injuries came a day after recently signed linebacker Keith Brooking (hamstring) got hurt.
Brooking will likely miss two weeks but his spot as a backup at weakside linebacker to Wesley Woodyard seems secure with starter D.J. Williams having to serve a six-game drug suspension to start the season. Williams also went on trial Wednesday in a drunken driving case stemming from a traffic stop in 2010.
Kuper is out four to six weeks, and Hillman will likely miss the Broncos’ exhibition game against Seattle on Saturday night.
Pete Carroll keeping mum on QB plan
RENTON, Wash. — Pete Carroll continues to be very guarded about his grand plan concerning the three-way battle for the starting quarterback position.
Carroll has been reluctant throughout the first three weeks of training camp to divulge information regarding his quarterbacks. Whether it’s which quarterback will take first-team reps on a given day or a timetable for ultimately making a decision on a starter, Carroll has been evasive.
Even the quarterbacks fighting for the job aren’t privy to Carroll’s plan.
“I’m finding out along with you guys,” Matt Flynn said.
Flynn found out he was starting Saturday’s game against the Denver Broncos during an interview with a local radio station.
Flynn will get his second consecutive start this weekend for the Seahawks. Flynn had a somewhat quiet debut with his new team against the Tennessee Titans last Saturday. He completed 11 of 13 passes for 71 yards with an interception. Flynn was conservative and didn’t force any throws downfield. His longest throw of the night was a 14-yard completion to Zach Miller early in the second quarter.
“There are obviously things, a couple plays here and there that you would like to change; I don’t think that there’s anybody coming out of a game not feeling that way,” Flynn said.
Flynn is expected to play most, if not all, of the first half against the Broncos, with rookie Russell Wilson taking the helm in the second half.
Carroll insists that Tarvaris Jackson is still in competition for the starting job but he didn’t play against Tennessee and isn’t expected to play in Denver either.
