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Which was the anomaly -- Cowboys' 4-12 record last year or postseason run two years ago?
By David Moore , Staff Writer
Tony Romo isn't making excuses. He's not saying what happened to the Cowboys last season should be dismissed.
But he doesn't see it happening again.
"I feel like last year is an anomaly,'' Romo said. "If we're going to base it all on that then...you have to come back and prove differently.
"The fact we went 4-12, whether I was playing or not, we didn't do a good enough job. We have to do better. I think part of that is me being healthy. I think part of that are guys getting better and improving.''
Every team suffers injuries. But not every team losses their top two offensive players the way the Cowboys did with Romo and Dez Bryant. Not every team starts four quarterbacks in a season the way the Cowboys did in 2015.
Did other teams around the league manage to win games despite losing key players? Sure. Green Bay was still a very good team without receiver Jordy Nelson.
But if the Packers lost quarterback Aaron Rodgers in addition to Nelson, would they still have made the playoffs?
The third week of organized team activities is underway for the Cowboys. A constant refrain from coaches and players to this point has been how good Romo looks throwing the ball.
Some will scoff and say big deal. It's only June.
You can count Romo in that group.
"Well, I don't think anything matters until you play football games,'' Romo said. "No one actually cares at this time of year what's going on because they don't see you.
"But us as football players, we can tell when we take a step or improve. I'm excited what I feel like is an improvement in some areas. That makes you excited to go play in the football game. We'll see what happens. But I think we're going to have a good chance.''
Romo tinkers with certain mechanical aspects of his game this time every year until they are ready to incorporate into his game. This offseason is no different.
"Some of the things I've been working on have taken a couple of years,'' said Romo, who never divulges what he's refining until after the fact. "I'm pretty excited about seeing them come to fruition.
"I've got a long way to go, but it's a good start. That's all it is right now. A good start. If I can continue to build off that and certain techniques that I won't bore you with, I think they're going to be able to hold up.
"I feel very excited about what that could possibly entail moving forward.''
Cowboys coaches and players are excited by what they have seen.
"He does look really good,'' tight end Jason Witten said. "The tempo, the energy he's bringing, everything he's doing at the line of scrimmage. He looks really good.
"I think that excites us all to know someone at that position, what is asked of him, how well he's playing, it gives us such positive feelings moving forward to see him back healthy and even better than what he was before.
"I know he's worked really hard to get to that point.''
Romo understands that fans will look at his age (36) and number of games missed last season (12) due to breaking his clavicle twice and be concerned about what that means going forward. But as he said, "you know, it's a collarbone. I don't think my collarbone is going to be anything that takes you out every year you play football.''
Again, injuries to Romo and Bryant -- and don't forget Orlando Scandrick, the team's most consistent cornerback -- are no excuse for a 4-12 season. But it does put what happened in a different perspective.
If key players are healthy and producing up to standards, the Cowboys aren't a four-win team.
"I think you've got to look at it critically,'' Witten said. "You have to look at it and understand, learn from it and move forward. To be the team we talk about becoming, you've got to move forward. You can't allow that to hang over your head.
"People are going to do that. That's where we are. We're coming off a 4-12 season. We have to understand that's who we are. But we're working to change that.''
Last season was an anomaly from the standpoint it was the Cowboys worst record in 26 years. But here's something else to consider: this team has missed the playoffs in five of the past six seasons and owned a winning record just once in that span.
That appears to drive this group as the third week of OTAs is underway.
"I think you want to play with that chip on your shoulder and our team needs to play with that,'' Romo said. "They need to work like that.
"So far this offseason they've been doing that.''
By David Moore , Staff Writer
Tony Romo isn't making excuses. He's not saying what happened to the Cowboys last season should be dismissed.
But he doesn't see it happening again.
"I feel like last year is an anomaly,'' Romo said. "If we're going to base it all on that then...you have to come back and prove differently.
"The fact we went 4-12, whether I was playing or not, we didn't do a good enough job. We have to do better. I think part of that is me being healthy. I think part of that are guys getting better and improving.''
Every team suffers injuries. But not every team losses their top two offensive players the way the Cowboys did with Romo and Dez Bryant. Not every team starts four quarterbacks in a season the way the Cowboys did in 2015.
Did other teams around the league manage to win games despite losing key players? Sure. Green Bay was still a very good team without receiver Jordy Nelson.
But if the Packers lost quarterback Aaron Rodgers in addition to Nelson, would they still have made the playoffs?
The third week of organized team activities is underway for the Cowboys. A constant refrain from coaches and players to this point has been how good Romo looks throwing the ball.
Some will scoff and say big deal. It's only June.
You can count Romo in that group.
"Well, I don't think anything matters until you play football games,'' Romo said. "No one actually cares at this time of year what's going on because they don't see you.
"But us as football players, we can tell when we take a step or improve. I'm excited what I feel like is an improvement in some areas. That makes you excited to go play in the football game. We'll see what happens. But I think we're going to have a good chance.''
Romo tinkers with certain mechanical aspects of his game this time every year until they are ready to incorporate into his game. This offseason is no different.
"Some of the things I've been working on have taken a couple of years,'' said Romo, who never divulges what he's refining until after the fact. "I'm pretty excited about seeing them come to fruition.
"I've got a long way to go, but it's a good start. That's all it is right now. A good start. If I can continue to build off that and certain techniques that I won't bore you with, I think they're going to be able to hold up.
"I feel very excited about what that could possibly entail moving forward.''
Cowboys coaches and players are excited by what they have seen.
"He does look really good,'' tight end Jason Witten said. "The tempo, the energy he's bringing, everything he's doing at the line of scrimmage. He looks really good.
"I think that excites us all to know someone at that position, what is asked of him, how well he's playing, it gives us such positive feelings moving forward to see him back healthy and even better than what he was before.
"I know he's worked really hard to get to that point.''
Romo understands that fans will look at his age (36) and number of games missed last season (12) due to breaking his clavicle twice and be concerned about what that means going forward. But as he said, "you know, it's a collarbone. I don't think my collarbone is going to be anything that takes you out every year you play football.''
Again, injuries to Romo and Bryant -- and don't forget Orlando Scandrick, the team's most consistent cornerback -- are no excuse for a 4-12 season. But it does put what happened in a different perspective.
If key players are healthy and producing up to standards, the Cowboys aren't a four-win team.
"I think you've got to look at it critically,'' Witten said. "You have to look at it and understand, learn from it and move forward. To be the team we talk about becoming, you've got to move forward. You can't allow that to hang over your head.
"People are going to do that. That's where we are. We're coming off a 4-12 season. We have to understand that's who we are. But we're working to change that.''
Last season was an anomaly from the standpoint it was the Cowboys worst record in 26 years. But here's something else to consider: this team has missed the playoffs in five of the past six seasons and owned a winning record just once in that span.
That appears to drive this group as the third week of OTAs is underway.
"I think you want to play with that chip on your shoulder and our team needs to play with that,'' Romo said. "They need to work like that.
"So far this offseason they've been doing that.''
