ESPN: Sources: Tony Romo unlikely to be active when Cowboys meet Steelers

[Reality]

FRISCO, Texas -- Tony Romo is healthy enough to play, but the Dallas Cowboysquarterback is not expected to be active Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter and Adam Caplan.

Offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said the Cowboys would go over the game-day roster on Saturday as a staff.

"I think he's able to do everything," Linehan said. "Again, we evaluate it after the day and see how [Thursday] went. Each day I think he does a little more. We've been encouraged with the response he's been able to have physically coming back the next day. He's getting better and getting stronger. We're real encouraged where he is right now."

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...ive-dallas-cowboys-sunday-pittsburgh-steelers

 

[jwooten15]

I just don't get it. It's been 11 weeks and he's still supposedly not even ready to suit up and be a backup, let alone actually play?

If he's a full-go in practice, he most definitely should be able to suit up and be there to play if something happened to Dak.

 

[BlueNSilver88]

Sounds like we are being careful with him, which is a good thing imo

 

[Deep_South]

Well, I would say it's his health or conditioning that is keeping Tony inactive, given the high level of improbability that Sanchez has beat him out.

 

[Tabascocat]

I'm guessing they don't want Romo standing behind Dak on the sideline dressed and ready to jump in at a moments notice.

When/if they determine that Romo starts, it will be his first game suited up IMO.

 

[EMMITTnROY]

I'm guessing they don't want Romo standing behind Dak on the sideline dressed and ready to jump in at a moments notice.

When/if they determine that Romo starts, it will be his first game suited up IMO.

Yeah, to me it sounds like we are kinda stalling. If we say he's healthy and can suit up, that means he's either gotta be announced as the starter or the backup. And either one is gonna be a distraction/controversy.

 

[DandyDon1722]

I think this is a good move.

Pittsburgh, cold weather, on the road and he has yet to see if he's sore after a week of practice. Plus, I agree with the posts above me, I think it's a whole different ball game psychologically when he's dressed and on the sidelines than if he's in sweats.

There's no rush.

 

[CowboyStar88]

Something doesn't smell right folks. If he is healthy why wait?

There is more here, I sense they want to name him the starter, but they are waiting for Dak to faulter. I mean what's the hold up now? 12 weeks since the injury? He should be fully healed if what they said was accurate. I get not rushing him, but I'd understand that if it was 5 weeks ago.

They are stalling for some reason.

 

[windjc]

They seem to be stalling. But at the end of the day its a bad choice not to have Romo be the backup. What if Dak gets hurt? Instead of Romo we have buttfumble and we lose.

 

[flosho]

I get the psychological argument against putting Romo in pads behind Dak but at some point this season that's gonna happen and if Romo is fully healthy I'd much rather have him in waiting than Sanchez.

At this point Dak seems pretty laser focused that it shouldn't affect his psyche.

 

[Bullflop]

It really looks to me like the team has lost confidence that Romo would be able to remain healthy if subjected to the rigors of a real game. At some point, they will either be forced to admit as much or activate him. The fact that Jerry admits that he's unsure what the future holds for Romo surely doesn't suggest a positive feeling about his chances to return anytime soon. He has publically admitted he doesn't know that anything will change regarding Tony's future. Those are Jerry's words, not mine.

We'll see in the next few weeks what does (or doesn't) develop. Admittedly, JJ has always been difficult to read, what with his unclear language, so it appears it's at least safe to say that nothing is written in stone when it comes to Romo's chances to be activated. Unfortunately, for the Cowboys' fanbase, the mystery continues regarding Tony's potential activation -- is there something we're not being told? Who knows . . .

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

Something doesn't smell right folks. If he is healthy why wait?

There is more here, I sense they want to name him the starter, but they are waiting for Dak to faulter. I mean what's the hold up now? 12 weeks since the injury? He should be fully healed if what they said was accurate. I get not rushing him, but I'd understand that if it was 5 weeks ago.

They are stalling for some reason.

They want to make sure he is 100% healthy and has a bunch of practices in his belt. Not just one week's worth.

 

[noshame]

I know some of you guys are old enough to have seen this scenario before. Defenses will smell blood in the water attacking him like a pack of sharks. the offense is immediately going to lose any type of options .
let's face it technically he can't even run play action because of the point of the handoff or supposed hand off they have the right to jump on top of him. you'll be limited to short drops and quick passes.

defenses will go back to the same thing they were doing last year, move everybody up and play the short pass and the Run.

The very best thing for Tony and the team is for him to spend the rest of this year and the offseason bulking up and conditioning and be traded to a team where he can possibly make a difference.

It should be obvious to everyone we have our quarterback for both now and the future.
he's running the offense like a seasoned veteran and that's only going to get better as he continues to adjust to the speed of the pro game. news flash there's a shot we might make it to the Superbowl this year but this defense is not ready for the likes of Tom Brady.

we've been fortunate to play a bunch of quarterbacks for whatever reason we're off their A-game .
but that luck is going to run out. Add a couple Playmakers to this defense in the offseason and next year we'll take them all out.

 

[WoodysGirl]

Nothing fishy about it... There have been articles for weeks about "riding the hot hand" They can bring Romo along slowly, because Dak is playing well. If Dak played like trash for an extended period, they would've wheeled Romo out there on a gurney. Dak is playing well, Romo can get stronger.

Kristi Scales said it best. Their probably won't be an announcement, but you will be able to tell by the practice reps and whose getting them with the first team.

Edit: Having said that, I tend to pay attention to locals than nationals. No knock on Schefter or Caplan, but the national guys aren't there everyday.

 

[Bullflop]

Lemme see . . . what to do, what to do! Guess we'll have to content ourselves with watching Dak put a whooping on Pittsburgh, huh? Yeah, man, THAT'S the ticket . . . then, we can all smile and carry on, knowing everything's peachy in Cowboys Country. Makes perfect sense to me . . .

In the meantime, Dak had better hope he doesn't lose to Ruthlessburger, lest he should fall victim to Jerry's irresistible impulse to return to his first true man-love, alias, Tony Romo. Alas, it's a fickle NFL world we follow, holding our cumulative breaths, desperately hoping for victory in the meantime. Pretty dramatic stuff, huh?

 

[Alweezy]

This is becoming the equivalent of the weekly "next test" thread.

We should start Romo next week because he is not in game shape.
We should start Romo next week because this team is too hard and he needs an easier matchup.
We should start Romo next week because the weather may be too cold.
We should start Romo next week because these two games are on short rest.

 

[rynochop]

I know some of you guys are old enough to have seen this scenario before. Defenses will smell blood in the water attacking him like a pack of sharks. the offense is immediately going to lose any type of options .
let's face it technically he can't even run play action because of the point of the handoff or supposed hand off they have the right to jump on top of him. you'll be limited to short drops and quick passes.

defenses will go back to the same thing they were doing last year, move everybody up and play the short pass and the Run.

The very best thing for Tony and the team is for him to spend the rest of this year and the offseason bulking up and conditioning and be traded to a team where he can possibly make a difference.

It should be obvious to everyone we have our quarterback for both now and the future.
he's running the offense like a seasoned veteran and that's only going to get better as he continues to adjust to the speed of the pro game. news flash there's a shot we might make it to the Superbowl this year but this defense is not ready for the likes of Tom Brady.

we've been fortunate to play a bunch of quarterbacks for whatever reason we're off their A-game .
but that luck is going to run out. Add a couple Playmakers to this defense in the offseason and next year we'll take them all out.

That lucks going to run out on Dak as well, he's had several passes that should or could be easily picked. That eagle game could have ended real quick on that last drive with that poor pass that was dropped by their db. I love Dak, but let's not pretend he's reinventing the wheel. I think we have the same record with a healthy Romo, and probably unbeaten.
That said, your not holding your breath every time Dak is hit like romo.

 

[DallasEast]

I'm guessing they don't want Romo standing behind Dak on the sideline dressed and ready to jump in at a moments notice.

When/if they determine that Romo starts, it will be his first game suited up IMO.

Bold--> This has been my expectation almost all along. I'm also expecting an official announcement from Garrett stating that Romo will start a game, giving the media enough time to go into full controversy melodrama mode. In other words, Garrett will manipulate the how and when he would personally deal with the idiotic media frenzy. It's anyone's guess when that announcement would take place during that fateful week but I think that it would be provided no later than on a Saturday (e.g. no last-minute gameday statement).

 

[WoodysGirl]

Bold--> This has been my expectation almost all along. I'm also expecting an official announcement from Garrett stating that Romo will start a game, giving the media enough time to go into full controversy melodrama mode. In other words, Garrett will manipulate the how and when he would personally deal with the idiotic media frenzy. It's anyone's guess when that announcement would take place during that fateful week but I think that it would be provided no later than on a Saturday (e.g. no last-minute gameday statement).

I don't think there will be an announcement, at all. Romo's been throwing for awhile and practiced officially for two weeks before they said he was cleared medically. When Romo is no longer running scout team will be when he starts.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

Older QB just getting himself ready to play after back issues and not having played a real game in a year? While the rookie is guiding the team to a league-best record? This just seems smart to me folks.

He'll be QB2 next week and Thanksgiving and the JG will decide what would be best for the homestretch.