Tuesday, September 29, 1998

Gailey shares blame with Garrett for Cowboys loss

By DENNE H. FREEMAN Associated Press

IRVING (AP) - The Dallas Cowboys have discovered the downside of starting a career backup quarterback.

Jason Garrett, who played error-free in a 31-7 victory over the New York Giants, threw two costly interceptions Sunday as the Cowboys lost to the Oakland Raiders 13-12.

The second interception by Eric Turner in the Oakland end zone with less than two minutes to play killed a Cowboys comeback charge. An earlier interception by Charles Woodson, also in the end zone, deflated another Dallas drive.

Garrett, subbing for Troy Aikman who is recovering from a broken collarbone, said he made two errant throws that helped drop his record as a starter to 3-1. But Dallas coach Chan Gailey tried to take the blame for one of the interceptions on Monday.

"The first interception was my fault, because I put him in that position," said Gailey, who explained that a receiver other than Michael Irvin usually runs the route that Woodson jumped. "Jason was used to other guys (Ernie Mills and Billy Davis) running it quicker. Mike ran the (curl) route, but didn't do it as fast as the other guys normally do."

Garrett said the throw was his fault.

"He (Irvin) was right and I was wrong," Garrett said.

Gailey said Garrett made a poor decision on the fourth-quarter interception that cost Dallas at least an opportunity to tie the game.

"Jason thought he saw the deep ball open and took a shot at it," Gailey said. "He had three options on the play."

Dallas was at the Oakland 41 and could have tried moving into position for a game-tying field goal.

"I thought we had the coverage we wanted," Garrett said. "I should have gone elsewhere with the ball."

Garrett is guaranteed at least one more start, against Washington Sunday, before Aikman could return. Aikman has targeted the Carolina game in Texas Stadium in two weeks for his comeback.

Aikman has been throwing and said his shoulder feels better. However, he must get medical clearance that the collarbone has healed properly.

"It's a possibility Troy could be the third quarterback this week," Gailey said. "But that's being very optimistic on my part."

Gailey said the Cowboys (2-2) must somehow forget the Oakland loss so they can put their attention on winless Washington.

"I told the team we can't let one loss cost us two games," Gailey said. "It hurts, it was bad, and we had opportunities to win. But we have a big division game to get ready for."

Tight end David LaFleur reflected the gloom in the Dallas dressing room, saying, "We just weren't on the same page. We were just out of sync. We need to put this behind us and go on to the Washington game."