Recommended Breer: Inside the Dallas Decision

[Plankton]

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/11/16/...back-dak-prescott-tony-romo-stephen-jones-nfl

Last week, finally healthy, Tony Romo expressed to the Cowboys brass a desire to fight for the job he now could acknowledge wouldn’t be just handed back to him.

And then, he went out and backed it up by having as good a week as possible piloting a scout team. According to those there, 100 percent is selling it short. “He looked like (Ben) Roethlisberger,” is how one Dallas source illustrated the Pittsburgh look Romo gave the Dallas defense in practice.

That was as good a sign as any that there really wasn’t anything he could do. The job Romo held for 10 years isn’t his anymore. And the idea that a red-hot Dallas team could open a quarterback competition in November was never realistic.

The 2016 Cowboys are Dak Prescott’s team. Officially now, and not just for Sunday’s showdown against the AFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens.

And Romo isn’t the only person who finds the conclusion hard to accept.

 

[Plumfool]

Dang that had to be a hard decision for management. Hats off to them. To Romo. To Dak. Everyone is making the best of an uncomfortable situation.

 

[jwooten15]

This is such a delicate situation.

I think we would all agree that, if able to stay healthy, Tony is the better overall quarterback.

But Tony being the better quarterback doesn't always translate to on-field success.

Dak is 8-1. You can't really expect or even hope for better than that. And, unfortunately for Romo, you can't mess with it.

Tony will get his chance. Just not now.

 

[Hawkeye19]

Dang that had to be a hard decision for management. Hats off to them. To Romo. To Dak. Everyone is making the best of an uncomfortable situation.

Yah-- to this point I think everyone has said and done the right things-- from Dak and Romo, other players, and the front office. They are making this about the team and this season-- which is 100% a message everyone can get behind.

I really hope the goodwill and team-first attitudes will continue in the offseason. This can play out a number of different ways, and hopefully we can land on a win-win for Romo and the franchise (i.e. we get a solid trade worked out to a contender).

 

[WoodysGirl]

This breaks down everything about the Romo-Dak conversation and after this, I have no plans to engage anymore, because it pretty much addresses every question I might have had about the situation. Very good read, IMO.

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Last week, finally healthy, Tony Romo expressed to the Cowboys brass a desire to fight for the job he now could acknowledge wouldn’t be just handed back to him.

And then, he went out and backed it up by having as good a week as possible piloting a scout team. According to those there, 100 percent is selling it short. “He looked like (Ben) Roethlisberger,” is how one Dallas source illustrated the Pittsburgh look Romo gave the Dallas defense in practice.

That was as good a sign as any that there really wasn’t anything he could do. The job Romo held for 10 years isn’t his anymore. And the idea that a red-hot Dallas team could open a quarterback competition in November was never realistic.

The 2016 Cowboys are Dak Prescott’s team. Officially now, and not just for Sunday’s showdown against the AFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens.

And Romo isn’t the only person who finds the conclusion hard to accept.

Read the rest: http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/11/16/...back-dak-prescott-tony-romo-stephen-jones-nfl

 

[WoodysGirl]

A blurb from Bledsoe...
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FOUR DOWNS
1. Bledsoe knows the feeling. Before we move on from the Cowboys quarterbacks, there is someone who knows both Romo’s spot, and Romo himself, and that’s Drew Bledsoe. He went through what Romo has in 2001 with the Patriots, and then was usurped by Romo in 2006 in Dallas. And so I called Bledsoe on Wednesday to try and get the best gauge on where Romo’s head is and what’s next. “It’s a hard thing, because there are conflicting emotions,” Bledsoe said from Oregon. “You’re happy and excited for the team, you want the team to succeed. But at the same time, it breaks your heart to not be as big a part of it. He said it—it’s the best team he’s had, they’re rocking and rolling, and all of a sudden that’s when you get relegated. I really felt that way in New England. When I stepped in the huddle at camp, and looked at the offensive line, it was like, ‘We really have something here. … That was the hardest part, thinking, ‘this team is ready to rock’, and having been through the hard part, and then once you got good it’s time to go stand over there and watch. It’s like, ‘I paid my dues, I was a good soldier, I got my *** knocked off,’ and now the team is ready and I gotta watch. It’s just difficult. I’d never in my life been the guy on the sideline. I’d been hurt, but from the time when I was 15 years old, I was the starter. As a freshman in college, it was five games before I was the starter. I’d never done it. I didn’t know how to do it.” His ability to deal with it is part of the reason why he’s still tight with Tom Brady to this day, and has been able to mend and maintain a relationship with Bill Belichick. So while he hasn’t talked to Romo this week, Bledsoe certainly knows what he’d tell him if Romo called. “There’s two things,” he said. “First, you should try to stay out of the media, other than to publicly support the guy playing and your team, and accept that backup role. You’re not gonna be in the news, that’s not your role. And then you prepare like you’re going to go back on the field. And at the same time, you share info with the guy that’s starting, and put your own desire to play aside, to help the starter as much as can.” Being a high school coach now, Bledsoe gets to pass along the things he learned through that experience. Safe to say, there’s plenty to draw on.

 

[Thomas82]

Excellent read!!

 

[ElGatoGrande]

If or when the Cowboys running game gets shut down because of good defense, or being down by a lot of points, is when we'll wish it was Romo out there.

 

[phildadon86]

Great read thanks for posting @WoodysGirl

 

[SDCowboy]

Great read as usual, WG.

 

[erod]

It remains nebulous. The offense is so stacked, it muddies the waters in a good way.

Dak is definitely the fast-tracking future, and Romo is certainly the quickly-fading past. But where that final line of demarcation actually lies is still somewhat of an unknown.

For now, it is clearly Dak's job to lose because 8-1 dictates that. But it can be lost. Dak will develop into a better quarterback three years from now than he is now. Romo is still a top five quarterback if healthy today.

It's an odd juxtaposition and overlap of careers.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Based on how he looked last week and in camp, sure. There’s a belief internally that Romo could juice the downfield passing game, and the institutional knowledge of his 14 NFL seasons would help open up the team’s game-planning and make the offense more dangerous on third down and in the red zone.

But the risk of doing that far outweighs the reward, with the gap between what Romo could bring and what Prescott does bring closing by the week. All of which led to Romo, who’d been quiet around the team, baring his soul Tuesday.

And there you have it folks. It's really as simple as that.

 

[khiladi]

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/2...actice-schedule-provides-added-reps-tony-romo

Romo is getting snaps with the first team every day. Call it what you want, but if Prescott hits the wall, Romo is coming back.

Either way, they already acknowledge Dak is the future and they aren't going to mess up momentum.

 

[PhillyCowboysFan]

If or when the Cowboys running game gets shut down because of good defense, or being down by a lot of points, is when we'll wish it was Romo out there.

And you know that who?

 

[Stash]

This breaks down everything about the Romo-Dak conversation and after this, I have no plans to engage anymore, because it pretty much addresses every question I might have had about the situation. Very good read, IMO.

----------------------------------------------
Last week, finally healthy, Tony Romo expressed to the Cowboys brass a desire to fight for the job he now could acknowledge wouldn’t be just handed back to him.

And then, he went out and backed it up by having as good a week as possible piloting a scout team. According to those there, 100 percent is selling it short. “He looked like (Ben) Roethlisberger,” is how one Dallas source illustrated the Pittsburgh look Romo gave the Dallas defense in practice.

That was as good a sign as any that there really wasn’t anything he could do. The job Romo held for 10 years isn’t his anymore. And the idea that a red-hot Dallas team could open a quarterback competition in November was never realistic.

The 2016 Cowboys are Dak Prescott’s team. Officially now, and not just for Sunday’s showdown against the AFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens.

And Romo isn’t the only person who finds the conclusion hard to accept.

Read the rest: http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/11/16/...back-dak-prescott-tony-romo-stephen-jones-nfl

I've always liked Albert Breer's work. I still miss him covering the Cowboys. Thanks for sharing this.

 

[Stash]

If or when the Cowboys running game gets shut down because of good defense, or being down by a lot of points, is when we'll wish it was Romo out there.

The Giants did the best job of that so far in week one, and Prescott still did enough for his part to have won the game. He can't catch the TD passes he throws, and he can't think for players who don't realize they need to get out of bounds.

Dak has done enough of his job to have this team undefeated.

 

[Animosity]

Favre, Manning, Montana.. these Super Bowl winning QBs werent giving a chance to earn back their jobs. And we are talking about a 2 playoff win QB as if he is on the same level as these guys. Give me a break. Reality now is that this is Daks job for the next decade and beyond and people should be happy the team is 8-1 and that we have a good starting QB and a good backup QB.

 

[Stash]

And there you have it folks. It's really as simple as that.

That second part is what some people refuse to acknowledge.

"But the risk of doing that far outweighs the reward, with the gap between what Romo could bring and what Prescott does bring closing by the week."

 

[DallasEast]

That's a nice article. I especially liked:

“Tony’s smart,” Jones said, from his cell in the middle of his Wednesday workday. “He’s very bright. And so when he came out and said it, in the end, I don’t think it took him long to figure that wouldn’t be a great thing for the team. We’ve got a good thing, and no one wants Dak looking over his shoulder.”

Here's Jerry Jones, a man who has been vilified by a number of his franchise's fans for decades, saying many of the exact same things they are. A guy, very disliked by some, is greatly appreciated for helping make the very roster move the exact same people have desired for a very VERY long time. Now THAT'S irony.

The Dallas COO said he hasn’t considered the possibility that Romo has thrown his last pass as a Cowboy, because he knows they may need him in the next few months as the team looks at a manageable finish to its schedule. He added, to that end, that he hasn’t thought past this year. (It’s logistically possible to keep Romo as the backup in 2017, though it’s hard to believe the 36-year-old would want that.)

That's smart. Even though I believe he has thought about Romo's departure from Dallas at length, now is the wrong time to offer even a tidbit of verbal commentary to the media. Don't say anything until February at the earliest and keep a genuine controversy from busting out before the season ends.

 

[Stash]

That's a nice article. I especially liked:
Here's Jerry Jones, a man who has been vilified by a number of his franchise's fans for decades, saying many of the exact same things they are. A guy, very disliked by some, is greatly appreciated for helping make the very roster move the exact same people have desired for a very VERY long time. Now THAT'S irony.That's smart. Even though I believe he has thought about Romo's departure from Dallas at length, now is the wrong time to offer even a tidbit of verbal commentary to the media. Don't say anything until February at the earliest and keep a genuine controversy from busting out before the season ends.

Those are Stephen Jones quotes, not Jerry.