The burgeoning quarterback controversy with the Dallas Cowboys is about to hit a fever pitch, based on what Jerry Jones said about Tony Romo Friday.
Speaking about the quarterback’s health and potential return to action, Jones hinted it won’t be much longer until Romo is active on game days.
Jerry Jones on @1053thefan: Romo "needs his back as strong as it can be. We need to see more. (But) I see Tony active in the near future."
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) November 4, 2016
The Cowboys owner elaborated on this.
“He needs to feel better,” the Cowboys owner and general manager said Friday on 105.3 The Fan’s G-Bag Nation show [KRLD-FM], per Jon Machota. “He needs to have his back as strong as it can possibly be. He’s ahead of where he came back and played last year. But we need to see more. The whole point is, there’s no need not to see more as we sit here today. This thing is about need, need as it relates to winning the game.
“So when I look ahead, we could in one of the most unique positions that I’ve ever heard about and that is to have Dak [Prescott] playing at a top level and then have Tony Romo behind him that if you walked out there and watched him at practice then you’d say, ‘Boy, we’ve got to get him in games.’ I’m talking Romo.”
The team has stuck by the idea that Romo would return to the starting job as soon as he’s healthy enough to play since his injury in the preseason.
On the other hand, both Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones have left the door open for rookie Dak Prescott to keep the job, even when Romo is healthy. And it’s not hard to understand why, given the team’s 7-1 record and given Prescott’s play during the first half of the season.
The rookie was miserably inept for much of the last game against the Philadelphia Eagles but then came back with a vengeance in the game’s final minutes to help Dallas win another big game.
This is a tricky dance the team is being forced to engage in. You don’t want to mess with success. But at the same time, you also don’t want to discount the value of a seasoned veteran during the playoff push — just ask John Elway, Gary Kubiak and Co. about that.
Regardless of what they end up doing, the Cowboys will soon be in the enviable position of featuring two quarterbacks who can win games in the NFL. The smart move would probably be to keep Romo on the bench until Prescott is not effective any more, if that ever happens.