Dallas Cowboys: National reports Sunday said the Cowboys had tried to lure tight end-turned-broadcaster Jason Witten out of the "Monday Night Football" booth and back to the field at AT&T (NYSE:T) Stadium. On Monday, Witten said he's happy what he's doing and also that the Cowboys just don't need him. "There's nothing there," Witten told The Dallas Morning News. "Look, I'm enjoying where I'm at. Those guys are red-hot. They don't need to change a thing with the way they're playing and the way that defense is playing. They're in good shape and so am I." Head coach Jason Garrett denied the report Monday, saying, "There is no truth to that story." Witten retired in April to become the MNF analyst, following Jon Gruden's return to the NFL.
New York Giants: As the Giants struggled to a 1-7 start this season, there were calls for the team to move on from Eli Manning as the starting quarterback and replace him with rookie Kyle Lauletta. The resurgent Giants, now 5-8, have enjoyed success with Manning the past few weeks, but in a blowout victory over Washington on Sunday, fans got a glimpse at Lauletta when he replaced Manning. He entered the game in the fourth quarter, threw an interception and finished the game 0-for-5 passing. What did head coach Pat Shurmur think? "I don't think there was enough there to evaluate how he did," Shurmur told reporters. "Would have liked to see him get a couple more completions and not throw that interception, certainly." Shurmur added: "I fielded enough questions regarding Kyle Lauletta, that those of you that were interested in seeing him, hopefully you got a chance to see what you were looking for."
Philadelphia Eagles: The Eagles are 5-for-5 on two-point-conversion attempts this season, so why did they kick the extra point to tie rather than go for two and a chance at a regulation-time win against the Cowboys Sunday night? "I got a report on this," head coach Doug Pederson said in his news conference Monday. "I can't off the top of my head think of exactly the numbers, but everything was in favor of going for one. And with Dallas having a minute and 39 seconds I think left with two timeouts, it changes." When prodded by a reporter to further explain his decision in the 29-23 loss that put his team two games behind Dallas in the NFC East, Pederson defended the choice. "I understand what you're saying," he said. "Again, with two timeouts and all four downs and we hadn't really stopped them -- we can spin this thing a hundred different ways. I mean, I don't know. I still stand by my decision."
Washington Redskins: Don't tell Josh Johnson -- now Washington's fourth starting quarterback of the season -- that nothing good can come from playing video games. According to reports Monday, just eight days ago he was playing in a charity basketball game in Oakland, Calif., when the Redskins called him about assuming the backup duties to Mark Sanchez. As a 32-year-old journeyman quarterback who hadn't been on an NFL roster since 2014, he didn't exactly know all he should about his new team. So how did he learn all of their names in a crash course? By playing "Madden" of course. Johnson has this week to get to know them even better. He'll take the first-team reps after outplaying a benched Sanchez in Sunday's 40-16 loss to the Giants.
--Field Level Media