Cowboys Hoping For Healthy Romo
IRVING, Tex. — The drafting of Ezekiel Elliott brings optimism. The return of Dez Bryant is full of excitement. But the Cowboys’ biggest move of the off-season?
Quarterback Tony Romo and his return to health.
The biggest difference between 12-4 in 2014 and 4-12 in 2015 was the absence of Romo, who missed 12 games after twice fracturing his left collarbone.
The Cowboys were 3-1 with Romo in the lineup and 1-11 without him. Roughly two months after undergoing the Mumford procedure in hopes of preventing further injury to his left clavicle, Romo is a full participant in the offseason program and a welcomed sight at OTA practices.
“Yeah. Certainly he is a big part of what we do,” offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. “He is a big factor in what we do. Him being out there is great not only for our team, but his leadership role he has for the younger quarterbacks, for any of the guys that he’s been around, it’s an example of how we do things, especially our
offensive system.”
It’s not just Romo’s ability on the field, but his leadership that strikes a chord with the Cowboys.
“That means a lot. It just builds the chemistry,” Bryant said. “It’s not even on the field. Just off the field in his body demeanor, his actions, his interactions with everybody. It’s been great. Everybody can see the spirit. It’s high. We love it. When you see your main guy like that it makes you just want to be that much better.”
Romo said his twice fractured clavicle is fine.
And so is his back that underwent offseason surgeries following the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
Romo says he doing things now that he hasn’t done in several seasons.
Now, two years moved from surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back, Romo said he can do things for longer periods of time, take less breaks in between and have a bigger workload.
“I do think that based on what my situation has been like the last three or four years, I do think that this is drastically different,” Romo said. “It started to show signs last offseason and this one is different, it takes me back five years ago when I was able to do things this way. I’m not there yet. I still have these months that after I just have to get after it, but it’s exciting to be able to actually get after it a little bit. If everything keeps going the way it’s going, I think it’s going to be exciting going into camp.”
The presence of a Romo that is a full participant in the offseason program who is doing more things than in past years is not lost on head coach Jason Garrett.
“I do think, ironically enough, he’s healthier than he’s been. He’s been able to go through more of the offseason program, lay the foundation for himself,” Garrett said. “I think his back feels better. I think he’s come back from the surgery on his collarbone seemingly without any problems. So he’s been able to function leading up to the OTAs and I think he’s been good the first couple of days.”
Romo feels so good that he agrees with owner Jerry Jones that he can play four or five more years.
“Yeah, I think absolutely,” Romo said. “With the way that it’s going right now the running joke is that I’m the only one in here getting younger each year, so we’ll see if that continues.”
