News: BTB: Poll: Which veteran is next in line to get the “Romo Wednesdays” treatment?

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Tony Romo used to sit out Wednesdays, will another Cowboy veteran take over that role?

There was a neat little tradition that unfolded throughout the 2014 season for the Dallas Cowboys. Every Wednesday, rain or shine, Tony Romo was typically off from practice.

Bodies are different and things across seasons change, but having that day off in the middle of the week certainly helped Romo once it was implemented into his routine four years ago. ESPN’s Todd Archer outlined it the following January.

The Cowboys wanted to limit Romo’s consecutive days of work. In training camp he did not work more than two straight days. He sat out of two of their four preseason games.

”It’s really no different than what you would do with any player coming off an injury,” Garrett said. “What we found out and what he kind of expressed to us was, ‘You know, I don’t feel quite as good when I work three, four, five days in a row. It’s better to work a couple and if we can work it out where I can take some time and then come back.’ Typically, he felt better and he performed better. So it was really a case of us watching him, us getting his feedback over the course of training camp and preseason, just coming up with something we thought would work for him.
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Dallas would have likely kept the Romo Wednesday song and dance up throughout 2015 and 2016 if those had been normal seasons for the quarterback, but as we all know they weren’t. As noted, time has moved on and things have changed, but are we at a place with the Cowboys where somebody else could benefit from a hump day break?

There are really only two veterans on the 2018 Cowboys that would be viable candidates for this sort of reprieve. I’m talking about the two veterans who’s absences essentially derailed the 2017 season, players who the Cowboys cannot live without: Tyron Smith and Sean Lee.

Tyron’s situation bears the most resemblance to Romo’s in terms of the nature of injuries. Smith’s back has failed him a bit over recent history, and Romo’s back had been put through hell because of the absence of a player like Tyron Smith early on in his career.

Sean Lee is a few years younger now than Tony Romo was four years ago, but he strikes a resemblance to the situation as far as being somewhat injury prone. Entering that glorious season Romo didn’t have the injury concerns he did a few years later, but he was hardly the pinnacle of stability either. Lee is an All-Pro player when healthy, it’s just he’s been unable to stay healthy for long stretches of time.

The case can be made for Smith or Lee in terms of who to give a “Romo Wednesdays” approach, given how important they are to the success of the Dallas Cowboys as a team.

Dallas has Cam Fleming serving as their swing tackle, and they have promising options like Justin March-Lillard and Joe Thomas that can practice in Sean Lee’s absence. Giving both Smith and Lee Wednesdays off could benefit the team in terms of their rationing and more experience for players who could use it.

What say you, BTB? Who should be handled with “Romo Wednesday” gloves?

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