Jason Witten last played in a professional football game on Dec. 31, 2017. He would transition to broadcasting where he would perform terribly enough to have him rethink his retirement goals, which basically led him right back to the football field when he announced he was coming back for at least one more year.
When Witten hung up his cleats, he came off a season where he caught 63 passes for 560 receiving yards. He averaged 8.9 yards per catch as well. All three categories were the lowest in his career since his rookie season in 2003.
Tony Romo still has high expectations for his former teammate.
The CBS analyst doesn’t think the long layoff will have much affect on Witten, in fact, he expects him to get right back to the player he was before he retired.
“He’ll pick up right where he left off,” Romo said Wednesday on 105.3 The Fan, via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. “I don’t think it’s a big challenge for Jason. The reality of it is as long as, if you know the game the way he does, there are certain positions — he plays one of them at tight end — he’s always going to have the nuance to get open. Let’s say he runs the exact same he always did, to me, it’s just that at that position, your ability to use leverage against somebody, make you think this and then do that. It’s like the back pick in basketball. Just all of a sudden, it gets you and you don’t even know it was coming and that guy is wide open. He’s very intelligent with the game of football. I thin he’s going to pick up right from when he retired. I think you’re going to see the same guy.”
Witten returns as the Cowboys’ all-time leader in games played, receptions and receiving yards.
