FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, November 19th, 2017

FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA FEATURES PETER KING’S INTERVIEW WITH JASON WITTEN

“There have been 20-25 times that I’ve said, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to play on Sunday’…you’re fighting Father Time.” – Jason Witten on recovery

“This is still our division.” – Cowboys QB Dak Prescott ahead of Eagles-Cowboys on Sunday Night Football

STAMFORD, Conn. – November 19, 2017 – Tonight’s Week 11 edition of NBC’s Football Night in America, the most-watched weekly studio show in sports, will feature NFL Insider Peter King’s interview with Dallas Cowboys TE Jason Witten, discussing how he recovers each Monday following a game. Football Night will also include features with Philadelphia Eagles QB Carson Wentz and Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, as well as highlights, analysis, and reaction to earlier Week 11 games ahead of Eagles-Cowboys tonight on Sunday Night Football.

Football Night airs each Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBC. Tirico will host Sunday’s program live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, joined on site by the Sunday Night Football team of Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya.

Dan Patrick hosts Football Night from NBC Sports Group’s Studio 1, joined by Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl winner Rodney Harrison, and NFL Insider Mike Florio of NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk. Paul Burmeister will report from Estadio Azteca in Mexico City on the Patriots-Raiders game.

INTERVIEWS: Below are excerpts from King’s interview with Witten, which took place on Monday, as well as comments from Wentz and Prescott. If used, please note the mandatory credit: “In an exclusive interview airing tonight on Football Night in America.”


PETER KING WITH JASON WITTEN

King: “You walked off the field in Atlanta yesterday, just 13 hours ago. What hurts right now?”

Witten: “Everything hurts. I got a pretty good quad bruise. It feels like I just got hit by a truck.”

Witten on what his Mondays are like: “This Monday is different because I have three games in 12 days coming up. When you age, your body has a tougher time to recover, so that’s going to be critical for me to get out ahead of it. You’re fighting Father Time.”

King: “Do you feel sometimes on Monday, ‘How am I going to put Humpty Dumpty back together again this week?’”

Witten on if he ever wonders how he’s going to recover on Mondays: “There have been 20-25 times that I’ve said, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to play on Sunday.’”

Witten on using dry-needling recovery technique: “I’ve probably been doing it for about three years…it feels great. I’m old-school, so, if it doesn’t work I’m not going to do it.”

King: “Before the needles, before the compression, before the ultra-modern pool, how did players get ready to play?”

Witten: “Those guys are just so tough. We’re spoiled. This is why you’re hearing about quarterbacks playing until they’re 45 and tight ends are playing until they’re 35-36 years old.”

Witten on if he’s paid attention to what Tom Brady has done late in life: “Certainly. Tom and his team have created a formula for all of us.”

Witten on how feels after receiving treatment: “This morning when I woke up, I wasn’t too good. But all of the work, the movement, getting it flushed out, I feel like I’m on my way to recovering. It’s almost like a different guy, and it’ll only get better from here on out.”

Witten on if spending seven hours in recovery is average for a Monday: “Yeah, it’s just another day at the office. That’s what it takes.”

King: “But it’s a day off.”

Witten: “There are no days off, Peter, you know that.”

 

CARSON WENTZ AND DAK PRESCOTT

Prescott on Wentz: “I have nothing but respect for that guy. He’s a great player.”

Wentz on Prescott: “Everyone talks about Dak and myself, and I think it’s exciting any time there are two young quarterbacks that are hopefully going to be playing in this rivalry for a long time. I have a lot of respect for what he’s done so far.”

Prescott on the Eagles-Cowboys rivalry: “When you play the Eagles, you expect it to be personal; you expect it to be a physical game.”

Wentz on the rivalry: “With the long history that we have with (the Cowboys), this is one that everybody gets pretty excited about…for the fans and for the whole city (of Philadelphia), there’s a lot that goes into this one.”

Prescott: “We’re going to go in there, show them who we are, show them what we’re about, and that this is still our division.”

FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA