Coming Off Bye, Cowboys Hope Health Is Enough to Salvage Season
By Mark Maske
The Washington Post
The quality of the football played by the Dallas Cowboys this season has ranged from terrific to pitiable. But the one constant about them is that they have been interesting to watch at every point along the way.
And now, as they welcome back quarterback Tony Romo and prepare to try to salvage their season beginning with Sunday night's game against the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field, they are more intriguing than ever.
The Cowboys began the season as a popular Super Bowl pick even though they play in the same division as the defending Super Bowl champions, the New York Giants. They looked like the league's most dominant team while winning their first three games, resembling the NFL's possible answer to last year's New England Patriots. Romo appeared capable of filling the glamour void left league-wide when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opening game.
But things have come undone from there -- so much so that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, as he surveyed the scene in his team's locker room following its most recent game, was fielding questions from reporters about readjusting his expectations for the season.
'If you give me the playoffs tonight,' Jones said then, 'I'll take it and not worry about winning the division.'
That was nine days ago at Giants Stadium. The Cowboys just had been overwhelmed by the Giants, 35-14, to drop to 5-4. It was their fourth loss in six games, and their second defeat in three games without the injured Romo.
The Cowboys had a bye this past weekend and now Romo is expected to return from his absence from the lineup caused by a broken pinkie on his throwing hand. Romo practiced last week and again yesterday and, barring a setback, is penciled in to start against the Redskins.
'I think Romo is better and better,' Cowboys Coach Wade Phillips said at his news conference yesterday at the team's Valley Ranch headquarters. 'I mean, last week he was okay. Today he was a lot better, I think. He had more zip on the ball. I think he felt more comfortable. . . . So it's looking better and better for him as far as getting back to where he was.'
Jones acknowledged that Romo must make up for lost time, however.
'He can't be as effective as he would have been if he'd played straight through,' Jones said after the Giants game. 'That's a challenge. But if things go right for us, we'll win some games.'
Cornerback Terence Newman, rookie tailback Felix Jones and guard Kyle Kosier also are being counted on to return this week from injuries. Of that group, only Jones didn't participate in yesterday's practice. Will it be enough? The Cowboys can only hope so.
'It's gonna be tough, but I think we're gonna have some players coming back,' Phillips said after the Giants game. 'We'll be healthier than we've been. . . . It's not all the quarterback, obviously . . . [but] we'll score more points and I think we'll move the ball better. We haven't done that.'
Jerry Jones said that night: 'You get people knocking each other off, and we've still got a shot. If you thought sailing this boat that you were going to have easy sailing, you weren't being realistic. At least with the players we're getting back, we'll at least have the talent. I'm disappointed we've got ourselves in this position up against the wall, but I understand why. That's the NFL. The decisions we've made, the money I've spent, I'd do it all again.'
Others in and around the league also think the arrival of reinforcements will aid the Cowboys greatly.
'With Dallas, you have to get back the quarterback,' Charley Casserly, the former general manager of the Redskins and Houston Texans who now serves as an NFL analyst for CBS, said by telephone yesterday. 'They need to get the quarterback and some other people back healthy, and that can still be a good team.'
But others around the league say that if the Cowboys are convinced that the play of fill-in quarterbacks Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger was the only thing holding them back recently, they might be fooling themselves. Their downward spiral began with Romo still in the lineup, with losses to the Redskins at Texas Stadium and at Arizona.
Wide receiver Terrell Owens hasn't had a 100-yard receiving game all season. He hasn't even reached 40 yards in any of the last four games.
The Cowboys traded for wideout Roy Williams last month on the same day that the NFL suspended cornerback Adam Jones indefinitely for violating the league's personal conduct policy. But Williams has had little impact, with three catches in three games since the trade.
Now Romo and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett face the task of getting Owens, Williams and tight end Jason Witten, who is playing with a broken rib, all involved in the passing game while still creating opportunities in the running game for tailbacks Marion Barber and Felix Jones. Owens said
The Washington Post
The quality of the football played by the Dallas Cowboys this season has ranged from terrific to pitiable. But the one constant about them is that they have been interesting to watch at every point along the way.
And now, as they welcome back quarterback Tony Romo and prepare to try to salvage their season beginning with Sunday night's game against the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field, they are more intriguing than ever.
The Cowboys began the season as a popular Super Bowl pick even though they play in the same division as the defending Super Bowl champions, the New York Giants. They looked like the league's most dominant team while winning their first three games, resembling the NFL's possible answer to last year's New England Patriots. Romo appeared capable of filling the glamour void left league-wide when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opening game.
But things have come undone from there -- so much so that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, as he surveyed the scene in his team's locker room following its most recent game, was fielding questions from reporters about readjusting his expectations for the season.
'If you give me the playoffs tonight,' Jones said then, 'I'll take it and not worry about winning the division.'
That was nine days ago at Giants Stadium. The Cowboys just had been overwhelmed by the Giants, 35-14, to drop to 5-4. It was their fourth loss in six games, and their second defeat in three games without the injured Romo.
The Cowboys had a bye this past weekend and now Romo is expected to return from his absence from the lineup caused by a broken pinkie on his throwing hand. Romo practiced last week and again yesterday and, barring a setback, is penciled in to start against the Redskins.
'I think Romo is better and better,' Cowboys Coach Wade Phillips said at his news conference yesterday at the team's Valley Ranch headquarters. 'I mean, last week he was okay. Today he was a lot better, I think. He had more zip on the ball. I think he felt more comfortable. . . . So it's looking better and better for him as far as getting back to where he was.'
Jones acknowledged that Romo must make up for lost time, however.
'He can't be as effective as he would have been if he'd played straight through,' Jones said after the Giants game. 'That's a challenge. But if things go right for us, we'll win some games.'
Cornerback Terence Newman, rookie tailback Felix Jones and guard Kyle Kosier also are being counted on to return this week from injuries. Of that group, only Jones didn't participate in yesterday's practice. Will it be enough? The Cowboys can only hope so.
'It's gonna be tough, but I think we're gonna have some players coming back,' Phillips said after the Giants game. 'We'll be healthier than we've been. . . . It's not all the quarterback, obviously . . . [but] we'll score more points and I think we'll move the ball better. We haven't done that.'
Jerry Jones said that night: 'You get people knocking each other off, and we've still got a shot. If you thought sailing this boat that you were going to have easy sailing, you weren't being realistic. At least with the players we're getting back, we'll at least have the talent. I'm disappointed we've got ourselves in this position up against the wall, but I understand why. That's the NFL. The decisions we've made, the money I've spent, I'd do it all again.'
Others in and around the league also think the arrival of reinforcements will aid the Cowboys greatly.
'With Dallas, you have to get back the quarterback,' Charley Casserly, the former general manager of the Redskins and Houston Texans who now serves as an NFL analyst for CBS, said by telephone yesterday. 'They need to get the quarterback and some other people back healthy, and that can still be a good team.'
But others around the league say that if the Cowboys are convinced that the play of fill-in quarterbacks Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger was the only thing holding them back recently, they might be fooling themselves. Their downward spiral began with Romo still in the lineup, with losses to the Redskins at Texas Stadium and at Arizona.
Wide receiver Terrell Owens hasn't had a 100-yard receiving game all season. He hasn't even reached 40 yards in any of the last four games.
The Cowboys traded for wideout Roy Williams last month on the same day that the NFL suspended cornerback Adam Jones indefinitely for violating the league's personal conduct policy. But Williams has had little impact, with three catches in three games since the trade.
Now Romo and offensive coordinator Jason Garrett face the task of getting Owens, Williams and tight end Jason Witten, who is playing with a broken rib, all involved in the passing game while still creating opportunities in the running game for tailbacks Marion Barber and Felix Jones. Owens said
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