EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Jason Witten’s teammates have known his toughness for years but even they were a little taken aback that he was able to play Wednesday against the New York Giants 23 days after suffering a lacerated spleen.

PODCAST
Cowboys TE Jason Witten pulls back the curtain on the decision process of playing against the Giants after injuring his spleen. Listen

“Jason is as good a player as there is at his position and when a guy like him steps on the field, it changes the dynamic,” quarterback Tony Romo said. “It really does ... I think that it just shows his commitment level this guy has to playing the game and how much he loves football, how much he loves being out here competing. I’m lucky to have a guy like him in our locker room and our team is as well. I can’t say enough about the respect that he earned from everybody with his attitude during this whole process. He’s the best teammate. He really is, for everybody.”

Said linebacker Sean Lee, “Witten is the ultimate warrior. He’s the ultimate teammate. He’s the ultimate tight end. He’s the ultimate leader. He really is the leader of our team in a lot of ways, and to see him come out here when we thought there was a high probability of him not playing, he went to every last effort to play in this game. That just shows the type of commitment he has. He’s the leader we all look up to.”

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones did not want to get overly dramatic, but brought up the movie El Cid from 1961.

“He was inspirational,” Jones said. “He was more than that. He was tactically a major part of what we were able to do.”