The Cowboys are sticking with Matt Cassel — for now. But they’re at least thinking about a change.
According to Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star Telegram, they’ve given some first team reps in practice this week to backup Kellen Moore, who has never thrown a pass in an NFL game.
Coach Jason Garrett described the amount as “a couple,” but said most of his work remains with the scout team.
Moore is kind of a pet project of offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, from their two years together in Detroit. The former Boise State quarterback is in his fourth year, but hasn’t played yet.
“There’s no bigger believer in Kellen Moore than myself,” Linehan said. “There’s probably a few guys back in Boise and some guys back in Detroit, but I believe in him. But in the same breath, I think our rallying cry is that it’s not just the quarterback position even though the quarterback position has to play better. We made the decision this week that we’ve all got to do better for the quarterback position. If we do that we’ll be able to get this thing turned around and move forward. But we’ve got all the confidence in those guys, whoever we have in the game, to do the job.”
Of course, they could also make a change at some point because Cassel has been kind of bad, and it won’t matter much longer, as they have just the slimmest mathematical chance of making the playoffs. But it seems as long as that chance exists, they’re going to ride with the veteran.
The Cowboys also have some pragmatic concerns, as Cassel has incentives built into his contract which could pay him more for certain levels of participation. So if they’re eliminated, giving Moore some looks can be an experiment for the future, and create savings in the present as well.