Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo started his season with a face plant against the 49ers last Sunday and some might wonder if playing in only two of the team’s four preseason games after having back surgery had something to do with his struggles.
Coach Jason Garrett doesn’t think so. He said he thought Romo worked a similar amount in this preseason as he as in the past — 50 snaps vs. an average of 61.3 in the last three seasons — and that his bad day was a product of other things.
“So he needs to get in there and play just like everybody else does,” Garrett said, via ESPNDallas.com. “When players come back off of an injury, you have to have a plan for them to get themselves healthy. We thought it was important to do the things we did to give him an opportunity to play [Sunday]. Sure you want more reps. You want more reps for everybody. That’s the nature of it. At the same time, you’ve got to go play given what the situation is. Was he as sharp as he’s been in his life? No. He made some bad decisions in this game that really hurt us. There were some other throws that weren’t perfect. But there were some good throws, too. He’ll learn from this. He’ll watch the tape, just like he’s done in the past and move forward.”
It really doesn’t matter if it was rust, the 49ers defense, the phase of the moon or just one of those days for the Cowboys. They’re going wherever Romo takes them this season, which makes their only choice hoping that this game was a hiccup on the way to better things.