FRISCO, Texas — Jason Witten walked toward the media scrum of the Cowboys’ annual charity home-run derby in May with his hand extended.

“Jason Witten, rookie tight end,” the unretired vet quipped ahead of his 16th NFL season. Then he explained how quickly he readjusted to the Cowboys after a season with ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast team.

“It was a long nine months away,” Witten said. “Maybe the first five minutes (back), it’s like ‘OK, this is new for a second there.’ But I played with those guys, get back to work and put my head down.”

After three weeks of organized team activities and a fourth of mandatory minicamp, Witten struck a similar tone. Sure, he would adjust his offseason plan from past years. But emerging in February from retirement gave him time to “clean off some of that rust,” he said. Reintegrating with his teammates was smooth. Witten didn’t reclaim his corner locker next to the showers that All-Pro right guard Zack Martin had since inherited. But the 37-year-old whom the Cowboys drafted in 2003 reported to offseason captain workouts and joined the Cowboys' leadership council on a visit to Duke and then to train with special forces.

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It was at Duke, with Hall of Fame and Olympic gold-medalist coach Mike Krzyzewski, that Witten found one story he says is motivating him in his return.

Cowboys leaders shared a dinner with Krzyzewski, a longtime friend of Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. Players asked Krzyzewski, who began coaching the U.S. national team in 2005, what made the greatest players he’s coached great. He included shooting guard Kobe Bryant.

“My favorite was that Kobe came up to him and said, ‘Whoever the best offensive player is, I want to guard him,’” Witten said. “He said he’s only had two people ever look at him that way: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant. I think that says a lot. We think Olympic basketball scoring in this day and age, and he’s talking about I want to guard the best guy.

“It says a lot about what makes those guys great.”

Witten hopes to challenge himself similarly in his return. He knows he’s not as spry as he was in his 20s emerging from the University of Tennessee. But he says his grind will not change. Witten’s playing time didn’t decrease in later seasons: He started all but two games from 2004-17 and played 98.4 percent of offensive snaps in 2017. His production, however, declined slightly, as he dipped from 11.7 and 11 yards per catch in 2013 and 2014 to under 10 his last three seasons. Witten caught five touchdown passes in 2017, but his 560 receiving yards and 3.9 receptions per game were career lows since he became a starter.

Teammates and coaches look instead to the reliable target he will offer, the experienced blocking that a box score won’t account for and Witten’s understanding of the Cowboys' offense. Witten played alongside first-year offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who said the veteran’s ability “is still there” and “you don’t have mistakes out there.” In minicamp, Witten guided teammates pre-snap to assignments and tipped them off to possible scenarios.

“Those are things I think about and want to share even more so now than ever because look: I came back to win games,” Witten said. “Days like today, ‘Hey, I saw you spray that release. Did you think about going a little more vertical than attacking him outside?’ All those are just conversations you want to have.”

While coaches suggest Witten will see fewer snaps on offense, he was a pervasive presence in minicamp practices. On one four-play stretch in team drills, he caught three consecutive passes, then took a single play off before returning to the field. Quarterback Dak Prescott didn’t complain.

“When you have a guy like that, it allows you to cut the ball loose, it allows you to anticipate, it allows you to trust he’s going to be in the right spot and he hasn’t failed in doing that,” Prescott said. “There are times I’d say throughout training camp I went somewhere else with the ball and I looked and boom, there was Witt that if that place wouldn’t have been open and I wouldn’t have gone there, I know I had that safety net.

“So it serves you well.”

Follow Jori Epstein on Twitter @JoriEpstein.