Veteran tight end Jason Witten and veteran tight ends coach Mike Pope are getting to know each other.
After more than 30 years with the Giants, Pope came to Dallas this offseason. He replaces Wes Phillips, who left Dallas to become the Redskins’ tight ends coach back in January. Witten told reporters this week that Pope has done some “nit-picking” over his game, but that he’s open to such scrutiny from a man with Pope’s history.
“He’s been honest with me in trying to really push me to ‘Let’s even take this to another level,’” Witten said, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I appreciate that challenge and the way he’s gone about it. I know he’s kind of the guru of tight end coaches.”
Pope is well aware of Witten’s track record through 11 seasons in the league, but he doesn’t see any reason why the 32-year-old can’t continue to improve.
“I’m excited, and he’s excited--he says he is, anyway; I don’t know him to be anything but truthful, but there are some areas that he’s hoping, and I believe we can help him, with the years that I’ve been doing this with all different types of players,” Pope said. “So I’m looking forward to keeping him on an upward spiral and then bringing Gavin Escobar and James Hanna along and fill in more of those spots with more production.”
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