OXNARD, Calif. – When Harry Flaherty takes to the practice field, he’ll have some familiar faces around him. Namely, his uncles John and Jason Garrett.

“It’s pretty interesting,” Flaherty said. “This is my first day here, so it’s definitely going to be an interesting experience, but I’ve been around their coaching a lot through the years.”

Flaherty was signed Wednesday morning after arriving at the team’s Oxnard practice facility late Tuesday evening. The Cowboys needed another tight end when Jason Witten suffered a slightly lacerated spleen that will keep him out for the rest of the preseason.

Flaherty had just finished working out when he got the call from the Cowboys and had about 90 minutes to get to JFK for his cross-country flight. Another uncle, Judd, is the Cowboys director of pro scouting.

“It’s been a pretty good whirlwind,” Flaherty said.

Flaherty, who played at Princeton, went to training camp with New Orleans last year and spent time in the spring with Tampa Bay. He worked out recently with New England and had a December workout with the Cowboys.

What does he offer?

“Just being able to line up a lot of different places, I think that was my appeal coming out of college,” Flaherty said. “I didn’t have huge stats or anything but I played fullback, played the slot, played tight end, so however they want me to plug in in camp, we’ll see how it goes.”