Jerry Jones used the phrase “Romo friendly” a few years ago to describe the team’s offseason plans as they tried to build around quarterback Tony Romo and his strengths. Now, the Cowboys owner has revised the phrase to fit their current quarterback, Dak Prescott.
“It’s an offense that lets him be unpredictable,” Jones said, via Todd Archer of ESPN. “It gives him the best way to be hard for the defense in the sense of game planning for him. I’d certainly love for him to be able to hurt them from the pocket. We’d love for him to be able to hurt them on the run -- and to run. We’re not necessarily interested in increasing the number of runs. I think we’ve got a lot more options as far as how to get him on the run in the passing game, and giving him a better pocket and having better blocking. You might say protection, but the way to get that done is to be imaginative in the running game. Some of the college stuff needs to be thought about here. That’s a big part of the conversation that’s going on at the office.”
Prescott struggled over the last eight games of the season. After passing for 1,818 yards with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions in the first eight games, he finished the second half with 1,506 passing yards with six touchdowns and nine interceptions. His sacks also increased from 10 in the first half of the season to 22 in the final eight games.
He had trouble getting the ball to slot receiver Cole Beasley, with Beasley’s catches dropping from 75 in 2016 to 36 in 2017.
Thus, the Cowboys will tweak some things with personnel and in the playbook. Prescott also will seek to improve some things in his game this offseason.
“If you look at the track record of big-time quarterbacks in this league, the best players in the history of the league, not many of them play and had the success that he’s had in the first couple of years of their career, first rattle out of the box as a rookie,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “So he’s done a lot of really good things, but he can improve in every aspect of his game. His understanding of what we’re doing, his understanding of what the defense is doing, how those fit together. Physically, he can get better. The way he gets away from center, his mechanics in the gun, the way he throws the football, his decisiveness, his decision-making, all of those things can get better, and they will get better.”