Sunday, October 18, 1998

Garrett's run as starter drawing to a close

By NANCY ARMOUR

Associated Press

CHICAGO -- When Chan Gailey arrived in Dallas, everyone told him Jason Garrett would be the perfect No. 2 quarterback. Chicago Bears safety Marty Carter disagrees.

Forget that No. 2. Garrett is better than some No. 1s.

"As of right now, they have two great quarterbacks," Carter said. "He's got a great quarterback rating and probably the biggest thing is that he hasn't made any mistakes to actually hurt the team."

After spending most of the last five years as the Cowboys' third-stringer, Garrett was thrust into a starting role Sept. 13 when Troy Aikman broke his collarbone. All he's done since then is surpass everyone's expectations.

The Cowboys (4-2) are 3-1 with Garrett, and at 367.7 yards per game, their offense is third-best in the NFC. Garrett has completed 60 percent of his passes (71 for 118), and his 92.3 quarterback rating is third-best in the NFC behind Minnesota's Randall Cunningham and Steve Young of San Francisco.

The guy right behind Garrett? None other than three-time MVP Brett Favre of Green Bay.

"Jason's played about as good as you can play for the last two to three weeks," Gailey said. "He's using his talent the way they need to be used. He's not forcing anything, he's playing smart football. He's got people around him making plays along with him, that's why he's playing well."

But like all other good things, Garrett's run as the Cowboys' quarterback is coming to an end. He will start today's game against the Bears (1-5), but after next week's bye, Aikman will take his old job back.

Aikman might be in uniform this week, but Gailey said there's almost no chance of him playing.

"You obviously want to be the guy who's playing, but I certainly understand my situation here," Garrett said. "I think Troy Aikman is the best quarterback in the NFL and has been for a long time, and I've learned a great deal from him. When he's healthy, he comes back and plays.

"I'll try to keep myself ready each week, and if the opportunity comes again, you just have to go out there and play."

Ordinarily, the Bears would be overjoyed to see the Cowboys without one of their stars. When Michael Irvin missed the season opener in 1996 as part of a five-game suspension, Chicago beat the Cowboys handily, 22-6.

But Carter said Dallas hasn't lost anything with Aikman out.

"The guy that's standing in for him has done a great job," Carter said. "He's a smart guy, he doesn't make many mistakes, and he has a nice deep ball that only the receivers can get to because he kind of lobs it high in the air. Michael Irvin and those guys are pulling the ball out of the air with double coverage."

That's a big key to his success, Garrett and Gailey said. While Garrett has been handling the ball well, he's also got one of the best supporting casts in the NFL. Emmitt Smith is back to being Emmitt Smith, leading the NFC in rushing with 529 yards on 126 carries.

Irvin's 516 yards receiving lead the NFC and are second-best in the entire league. Ernie Mills (329) and Billy Davis (293) also are among the NFC's best in yards receiving.

Garrett also has a keen understanding of what defenses are doing, and the Princeton grad is smart enough to know exactly how to exploit that.

"I don't have as good an arm as Troy, there's no question about that," Garrett said. "You go out, you read things, you try to throw the ball to the right guy and try to take advantage of the opportunities the defense gives you."

Garrett is in the second year of a three-year contract. While other quarterbacks might get greedy after the kind of success he's had -- especially after waiting such a long time for the opportunity -- he's content to go back to being the No. 2.

"It's a pretty darned good job, to be honest with you," he said. "It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, and the fact that people actually pay me to play football is kind of an interesting concept.

"I love being around here," he added. "To be on three Super Bowl championship teams and to be around the success that we've had here, I think those are very unique experiences."