Jason Witten won’t be mic’d up Monday night

[Rowdy]

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Jason Witten returned to the Cowboys this season after spending last season in the TV booth on ESPN. He plays on Monday Night Football this week, so it seems a natural that ESPN would want its former employee wearing a microphone.

“No. No,” Witten said Friday, via Schuyler Dixon of the Associated Press. “I don’t know if they [asked] or not. I don’t know. But that won’t be happening.”

The Cowboys tight end has his reasons for not wanting to be mic’d up, and it has nothing to do with “seeing ghosts,” he said.

“It’s probably best,” Witten said. “Early on, it was too big on the shoulder pads, and then I did it one other time, and I didn’t play very well. And so at halftime, I told [equipment manager Mike] McCord, ‘Take that mic off my pads.’ And we haven’t put it on ever since. That’s kind of my excuse.

“No, I wasn’t seeing ghosts.”

Witten answered several questions about Sam Darnold‘s bad experience with wearing a microphone in a Week Seven game against the Patriots. Darnold was shown saying he was “seeing ghosts” against the Patriots, and the Steelers and Dolphins both opted out of participating in ESPN’s “Mic’d Up” segment this week.

Witten said he understands Darnold and the Jets’ response to the airing of the quarterback’s comment. He also hopes it doesn’t stop players being mic’d.

“I like that, just especially from last year [working for ESPN], I know how hard networks work to get access,” Witten said. “And I think it’s important. That’s what the fans want. It’s our job, the network’s job, to give them that. And I know they work really hard to do that. We were always appreciative when guys were willing to get mic’d up and take that on.”