OXNARD, Calif. _ Jason Garrett knew the questions were going to come on how the Dallas Cowboys handled the release of wide receiver Lucky Whitehead.
Whitehead was released after a report surfaced he had a warrant out for his arrest for shoplifting in Virginia. Turns out, though, that Whitehead was misidentified and the police got it wrong.
Did Garrett regret how that decision was handled? Why are other players with similar, or even worse, off-field issues still on the roster? Garrett addressed and answered 11 questions in similar fashion over a three-minute news conference on Tuesday.
On any regret cutting Lucky Whitehead: "Yesterday we made a decision that we deemed to be in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys. We're standing by that decision and we're going to move on."
But it was based on a false arrest report: "Yesterday we made a decision we thought was in the best decision that we felt was in the best interest of the Dallas cowboys. We're going to stand by that decision and we're going to move on."
On saying same thing over and over: "It's the truth. We made a decision we felt was in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys."
On if anyone is too stupid to work for organization: "I'll stand by the statement that I made. We made a decision yesterday that we felt was in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys. We're going to stand by that decision and we're going to move forward."
On if it sends wrong message to team: "Yesterday we made a decision that we thought was in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys. We're going to stand by that decision and we're going to move forward."
On why Whitehead wasn't cut before camp: "Again, guys, I'm not going to continue to address this. We made a decision we thought was in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys. We're going to stand by that decision and we're going to move on."
On if organization knows something we don't: "We know a lot of things about our players that you guys don't know."
On the only thing that changed with Whitehead was arrest: "Guys _ we made a decision yesterday that we thought was in the best interest of our team. In evaluating the particular situation and the context of that situation, we felt like we made a decision in regards to Lucky that was right for our team. We stand by that decision."
On happy that Whitehead's name has been cleared: "I think the best thing for Lucky is to have a clean slate and he'll have a new opportunity somewhere else. That's good for him and, again, it's in the best interest of our football team."
On if Whitehead told the organization he didn't do it: "We had a number of conversations with Lucky regarding this and, again, we made a decision we think is in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys."
On why other players with off-field issues haven't been cut: "Guys, this will be the last time I'll say it. I appreciate your interest in it. We made a decision yesterday in regards to Lucky Whitehead that we think is in the best interest of the Dallas Cowboys. We're standing by that decision. We're going to move forward. If you have any other football questions, I'm happy to answer them."
No one asked any more questions and the press conference abruptly ended.
