Peter King-There is nothing certain about Tony Romo​

NoDak

Hotlinking' sonofabitch
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
22,913
MMQB
MON AUG. 29, 2016
LINK

“I don’t think our guys would even consider trading Prescott for Lynch right now,” said Jones. “No, I know they wouldn’t. That’s how much they like Dak right now.”

After a rough tackle early in the preseason game at Seattle on Thursday night, Tony Romo, 36, got an MRI Friday and discovered he’d fractured a vertebra in his back. The starting job falls now to the 135th pick in the 2016 draft, Dak Prescott of Mississippi State.

Romo faces the frustrating madness of a fourth straight year with a significant injury (disk surgery, two fracture back bones, fractured clavicle, re-fractured clavicle, and now a fractured vertebra), but he did tell one club official over the weekend: “I’m gonna be in Dak’s back pocket to help him. We’re gonna win games with Dak.”

Brave talk. Hasn’t worked that way in the past in Dallas.


Two important points here, from Cowboys COO and director of player personnel Stephen Jones on Sunday afternoon:

• Dallas is all-in with Dak Prescott. Remember the draft-day obsession with Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch? As I reported last spring, the Cowboys spent 67 minutes and 19 phone calls with at least nine teams trying to move up in the draft to take Lynch late in the first round. They failed, settling for Prescott late in the fourth round. Now? “I don’t think our guys would even consider trading Prescott for Lynch right now,” said Jones. “No, I know they wouldn’t. That’s how much they like Dak right now.” Look for Dallas to pick up a veteran body as a backup—but only to back up Prescott—as players get waived and traded in this week of roster movement.

Romo’s very likely to get his job back when he’s healthy, but … “I can’t imagine a scenario where Tony’s not our quarterback when he’s ready,” Jones said. “But things happen. You know that. You know what happened to Bledsoe and Brady. [In 2001, Drew Bledsoe was KO’d with internal bleeding for most of the season. Unknown Tom Brady relieved him and never gave back the job.)
I’m sure Tony’s aware of that. But the reality is, Tony’s going to come back for us and play great, we believe.”

What would have to happen for Prescott to stay under center? No one knows. Dallas doesn’t have a killer early slate (vs. Giants, at Washington, vs. Chicago, at San Francisco, vs. Cincinnati, at Green Bay), but you can’t sit here and say if they go 4-2 or 5-1 Romo wouldn’t get his job back. Put it this way: It’s highly likely that Romo returns as the starter. But that probably shouldn’t be the question. Romo missed 12 games with the twice-fractured clavicle. He’ll miss up to six games this year with the back break. That would be 18 missed games in one-plus seasons. He’s 36. Romo’s at the point in his career—and has been so abused since mid-2013—that nothing is guaranteed, except again the backup quarterback is more important in Dallas than anywhere else in football.

Backups in Dallas are 1-13 in the past three years.

“It’s a different feel around here this time,” Jones said. “We like what we’ve got behind Tony now. This is still a gut punch. It hurts bad. But I can tell you this time we’re not going to be sitting around worrying when Tony gets back. We can’t say, ‘We need to go 3-3,’ or whatever, with Tony gone. The hell with that. We gotta have a game plan to beat the Giants, and to win every game without him.”

Prescott, of course, has been a godsend. A DUI arrest in March (he was later cleared) pushed him down draft boards, and he’s been the best quarterback by far in the NFL preseason—whatever that means. His 137.8 rating and .780 accuracy rate have blown away the Cowboys. In some ways, he’s almost been too perfect. This story from training camp reflects that: In an 11-on-11 period late in practice, the offense had 10 seconds left to score, and Prescott was the quarterback with the first unit. He passed to Dez Bryant, and Bryant was supposed to out of bounds immediately so the clock would stop or go to the ground so the offense could call a timeout.

But Bryant tried to score instead, was stopped, and the clock ran out. Prescott ran to him and said words to this effect: We know you’re the best receiver in the world and you MIGHT score, but we can’t take that chance. You gotta use your head and get the clock stopped. That’s a rookie, talking to Dez Bryant. And Bryant, to his credit acknowledged Prescott was right. Prescott grew a lot in the eyes of the starting offense, and the coaches, that day.

What’ll happen now? Prescott wasn’t a great deep-ball thrower at Mississippi State, but he’ll have to do that some to keep the Giants honest on opening day. In a way, this reminds me a bit of the Ravens in 2008. That year, first-year coach John Harbaugh wasn’t planning to start rookie quarterback Joe Flacco, but incumbents Kyle Boller and Troy Smith were hurt, and Flacco had to play.

Baltimore had a great run game and an excellent offensive line, and reliable targets in Derrick Mason and Todd Heap. Dallas is similar with Bryant and Jason Witten. Where the teams differ is that Baltimore’s defense was terrific; the Dallas unit will struggle.

If you saw the Cowboys on Thursday night in Seattle, you saw a preview of how I think Garrett and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan will play: bashing first-round running back Ezekiel Elliott even against the most physical of defenses—Elliot didn’t shy away from challenging Kam Chancellor in the hole—with Prescott relying inordinately on Witten for security. They don’t offer insurance for this kind of thing, as former Cowboy coach Bill Parcells once said, and this is a bad injury for Dallas. But that why this game’s so maddening to predict. Who can really say Prescott’s not ready? Watching the preseason so far, I’d take my chances opening day with Prescott over Jared Goff, the first pick in the draft. Jerry Jones likes great theater. Well, this isn’t the way he envisioned it, starting the 135th pick in the 2016 draft at quarterback. But he’s got the reality show of the year to open the new season.
 

L.T. Fan

I'm Easy If You Are
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
21,689
There seems to be an air of Prescott will succeed when other backups failed in the past. I really hope that is the case but I think he will struggle at the onset. If at the end of 6 regular season games the team is 3 and 3 I will consider that a success because it will probably mean that he will get better from there.
 

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
119,696
Just amazing to see this kid already taking on such a leadership role with a vet. Hopefully, the team takes to it. It sure seems like they are.
 

VA Cowboy

Brand New Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
4,710
There seems to be an air of Prescott will succeed when other backups failed in the past. I really hope that is the case but I think he will struggle at the onset. If at the end of 6 regular season games the team is 3 and 3 I will consider that a success because it will probably mean that he will get better from there.
Being a rookie starting from day one he's bound to have some struggles, but the good thing is with our OL, RB's and receivers we don't need Dak to win games by himself. He just needs to manage the game, but with his skills I think he can be more than just a bus driver.

The downside is we really need our defense to play well so we don't have to get into many shootouts. But with not much pass rush and some issues in the secondary I think we're going to need all the points we can get.
 

mcnuttz

Senior Junior Mod
Staff member
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
15,667
Being a rookie starting from day one he's bound to have some struggles, but the good thing is with our OL, RB's and receivers we don't need Dak to win games by himself. He just needs to manage the game, but with his skills I think he can be more than just a bus driver.

The downside is we really need our defense to play well so we don't have to get into many shootouts. But with not much pass rush and some issues in the secondary I think we're going to need all the points we can get.
Ride those RBs and the game won't rest on Dak's shoulders.

It was amazing how much better Romo played in '14 with a solid RB.
 

Cowboysrock55

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
52,453
Ride those RBs and the game won't rest on Dak's shoulders.

It was amazing how much better Romo played in '14 with a solid RB.
Actually what amazed me most was how well an even less talented defense was able to perform that year by having an offense chew up the entire clock game in and game out. The cool thing is that our run game has potential to be even more dangerous this year because we have a QB who can run with the ball and serious depth in the backfield to rest our stud.
 

E_D_Guapo

Brand New Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
3,158
Romo’s very likely to get his job back when he’s healthy, but … “I can’t imagine a scenario where Tony’s not our quarterback when he’s ready,” Jones said. “But things happen. You know that. You know what happened to Bledsoe and Brady. [In 2001, Drew Bledsoe was KO’d with internal bleeding for most of the season. Unknown Tom Brady relieved him and never gave back the job.) I’m sure Tony’s aware of that. But the reality is, Tony’s going to come back for us and play great, we believe.
I think if Dak plays out of his mind and is 4-0, 5-1, or whatever when Romo comes back they're nuts if they just hand the job back to Romo. It would take an extraordinary string of performances though because they love their "fighter pilot".

My question is, what if Dak plays well and has the team at a solid 4-2 when Romo is ready to come back (their actual W/L record should be secondary to how Dak looks, IMO). They will almost definitely give Romo his job back, but what if he plays like shit? Reports are that he sat out a ton of training camp practices, he barely played at all in the preseason, missed most of last season, and is a physically battered 36 year old. He seriously might not play well even when he is deemed healthy enough to play. Will they keep trotting him out there every week if he looks like bad, figuring he is just rusty and will turn it around eventually? The answer in the past would have always been, "Yes, of course", but they have never had anyone behind him that they have had legit reasons to get excited about they way they have Dak.
 

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
119,696
BTW, a hashtag I hope sticks is #DakInABox. Mainly because it's funny as shit.
 

dallen

Senior Tech
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
8,466
#DaksOutForHarambe
 

mcnuttz

Senior Junior Mod
Staff member
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
15,667
Actually what amazed me most was how well an even less talented defense was able to perform that year by having an offense chew up the entire clock game in and game out. The cool thing is that our run game has potential to be even more dangerous this year because we have a QB who can run with the ball and serious depth in the backfield to rest our stud.
No doubt about it.

They seem to be doing a great job so far in designing with Dak in mind.

Now that he's the starter, Linehan needs to work in a lot more play action and QB runs.

The running game took a load off Romo's shoulders in '14.

I'm pretty excited about how the offense is gonna look this year.
 

mcnuttz

Senior Junior Mod
Staff member
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
15,667
I think if Dak plays out of his mind and is 4-0, 5-1, or whatever when Romo comes back they're nuts if they just hand the job back to Romo. It would take an extraordinary string of performances though because they love their "fighter pilot".

My question is, what if Dak plays well and has the team at a solid 4-2 when Romo is ready to come back (their actual W/L record should be secondary to how Dak looks, IMO). They will almost definitely give Romo his job back, but what if he plays like shit? Reports are that he sat out a ton of training camp practices, he barely played at all in the preseason, missed most of last season, and is a physically battered 36 year old. He seriously might not play well even when he is deemed healthy enough to play. Will they keep trotting him out there every week if he looks like bad, figuring he is just rusty and will turn it around eventually? The answer in the past would have always been, "Yes, of course", but they have never had anyone behind him that they have had legit reasons to get excited about they way they have Dak.
But what about continuity?

If you believe in breaking up a hot streak just because Romo is "cleared" to play, you don't deserve to win a Super Bowl.

If Dak comes back down to earth and takes some lumps that's one thing...but if he's lights out you tell Romo to recovery fully and get ready for playoffs.
 

NoDak

Hotlinking' sonofabitch
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
22,913
Just amazing to see this kid already taking on such a leadership role with a vet. Hopefully, the team takes to it. It sure seems like they are.
That's what I took from that, too. And good on Dez for taking the constructive criticism and not just blowing him off just because he's a rookie. That also shows good leadership on his part.
 

mcnuttz

Senior Junior Mod
Staff member
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
15,667

mcnuttz

Senior Junior Mod
Staff member
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
15,667
That's what I took from that, too. And good on Dez for taking the constructive criticism and not just blowing him off just because he's a rookie. That also shows good leadership on his part.
Dez ain't about that rookie hazing shit.

#aintcarryingyourpads
 

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
119,696
That's what I took from that, too. And good on Dez for taking the constructive criticism and not just blowing him off just because he's a rookie. That also shows good leadership on his part.
Absolutely.
 

UncleMilti

This seemed like a good idea at the time.
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
17,981
Ride those RBs and the game won't rest on Dak's shoulders.

It was amazing how much better Romo played in '14 with a solid RB.

Dak is going to have to prove he can get the ball down the field though, no matter how good Morris and Zeke are.

I'm a bit concerned about that once he gets into the real season and DC's start disguising stuff and throwing the kitchen sink at him. He's a rookie, and there's going to be a lot of growing pains.
 

E_D_Guapo

Brand New Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
3,158
But what about continuity?

If you believe in breaking up a hot streak just because Romo is "cleared" to play, you don't deserve to win a Super Bowl.

If Dak comes back down to earth and takes some lumps that's one thing...but if he's lights out you tell Romo to recovery fully and get ready for playoffs.
Agreed. If Dak is rolling they should just go with him until when/if that changes. I think there is no doubt though, unless Dak is amazing, that they will slide Romo back in when he ready. I just wonder how long they will ride with him if he comes back and sucks, because that is a real possibility.
 

mcnuttz

Senior Junior Mod
Staff member
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
15,667
Agreed. If Dak is rolling they should just go with him until when/if that changes. I think there is no doubt though, unless Dak is amazing, that they will slide Romo back in when he ready. I just wonder how long they will ride with him if he comes back and sucks, because that is a real possibility.
It's somewhat amazing that we're even discussing the possibility of a QB controversy in Dallas.

:towel
 
Top Bottom