Tony Romo Willing to Play Backup as Dak Prescott Leads Cowboys to 8th Straight Victory
After Tony Romo went down in preseason, rookie quarterback Dak Prescott stepped up big time for the Dallas Cowboys, leading the team to eight straight wins after a Week One loss to the New York Giants. Now, with Romo about ready to return to the field, the Cowboys have a bit of a dilemma on their hands—should they pull the hot-handed Prescott to return the fate of the team to the traditionally unreliable Romo?
Maybe they won’t have to. Ask it turns out, Romo is okay with playing backup to Dak (at least for now) for the sake of the team. It’s clear to everyone, including Romo, that Dak gives the Cowboys the best shot at victory right now. Of course, should Prescott begin to struggle, head coach Jason Garrett will have the responsibility of pulling him for Romo, even if it’s only for a play or two.
“We obviously feel good about what our team’s doing right now,” said Cowboys vice president and COO Stephen Jones. “But at the same time when you got a great player like Tony, if you feel like he could infuse some energy and pull something out for you that maybe things aren’t going your way then certainly that’s a coaching decision that can be made by Jason and [offensive coordinator] Scott [Linehan]. Right now, we’re focused on being positive…we’ll just kinda take each day one day at a time.”
Of course, after an impressive 35-30 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dak must have earned the right finish out the season. Then again, just two seasons ago, Romo held a 12-3 record as a starter with 34 touchdowns and just nine interceptions. Tony has been under center in Dallas since 2006, and though he hasn’t offered the team much real success in the postseason, it will be difficult for the Cowboys to cut ties with the tenured QB.
Maybe the Cowboys are waiting for Dak to screw up. Or maybe they secretly want to move on. Only time will tell.