'The Cowboy Way': On departee TE Rico Gathers vs. returnee TE Jason Witten

OXNARD - There is a thing around here sometimes called "The Cowboy Way'' and it is embodied by tight end returnee Jason Witten. And then there is something else, embodied by tight end departee Rico Gathers.

The Dallas Cowboys are giving up on The Rico Gathers Experiment, the former Baylor basketball player having never quite made the adjustment to football that would allow him to be on the field. ... and as Rico leaves, he takes with him what I would characterize as a lack of understanding of "the why.''

Gathers played in 15 games last year, catching three passes. His athleticism was always eye-opening, but as he entered this, his fourth training camp with the team, he had a pass bounce off his hands for an interception, missed some work with a minor ankle injury and all along had hovering over him a coming Week 1 suspension due to a marijuana arrest a year ago.

And then there is this: Gathers recently claimed on social media that he was a victim of a "predetermined depth chart'' -- an unfortunate take that lessens the fact that returning future Hall-of-Famer Witten is vastly superior to him, that second-stringer Blake Jarwin is better than he is, and that third-stringer Dalton Schultz has at least become a better blocker.

Once upon a time, Rico's issue was understanding his job once the football bullets were flying. In other words, he was catching on in the classroom but the lack of football instincts prevented it all from being translated to the field.

More recently, Gathers has gotten better in that department ... to the point where now, he's simply not a good enough football player.

Gathers did make the leap from the practice squad in 2016-17 to the active roster last year in 2018. And as a sixth-round pick in 2016 who tried to make the transition from being a college basketball star at Baylor to playing the NFL, he was an intriguing story. But early on, the fact that he hadn’t played organized football since junior high hampered him.

Did Witten get in his way? On the "predetermined depth chart,'' yes. But Witten also attempted to help Rico figure out "The Cowboy Way.''

The compare-and-contrast game can be an unfair one. Is Rico supposed to be exactly like Witten? Not fair. But ... Listen to Witten in this week's interview on 105.3 The Fan with "Ben & Skin'' and note the unselfish tone:

"I told the PR staff going back to March, 'Look, we don't need to have a press conference (to announce) I'm coming back," Witten said. "And coming back, (I just wanted to) lay low and get out there and play ball.

"I didn't want them to feel like they (the other tight ends on the roster) had to take a step back. ... it's their time. My thing is, go play. I know what the questions are with my career, and they're fair questions.''

This is Jason Witten, saying doubts about him are "fair'' ... vs. Rico Gathers saying doubts about him aren't. Which one should be "The Cowboy Way''?