#9 – Tony Romo – Quarterback

On if these are the ‘dog days’ of training camp:

“No. Today my arm’s a little sore, and I need to watch it just because we don’t want it to stay like that for an extended period of time. We started today just watching it a little bit as it caught up with me yesterday and we’ll get better going forward.”

On if he deals with his arm getting sore every year:

“Yes, a little bit. I think you never know when it’s going to happen just because of the schedule, the amount you’re throwing and what you’re working on. But it’s all part of being here, and you just have to know that, work through it and use a little bit more legs in things to drive the ball.”

On how long it takes to get rid of the soreness:

“If you do it the right way, it’s usually about a two or three-day thing and you can kind of get back a little bit and go from there. It’s really a part of every season, and I’m pretty sure just about every quarterback goes through it. I’m competitive and I want to be standing out here; I really want to take part in (practice). The coaches are great because if (practice) is too short and you don’t want to (practice), I know that they’re allowing me to have that option. But we’ve got a lot of stuff to do, so we’ll keep grinding.”

On WR Dez Bryant’s injury:

“That’s part of the game sometimes, and we’re lucky it’s just a high ankle sprain and not something more severe than that. But he’ll be back, and he’ll be ready to go. He’s a hard working kid, and he’ll be ready.”

On the priority of Bryant getting good quality mental reps while he can’t physically practice:

“Mentally, you have to stay in the game and have to keep watching what’s going on and see timing things. But the other part is staying in shape and doing the things that will still allow you to keep your cardiovascular up. We have good trainers who can help with that, and he’ll be alright.”

On what he does to take care of his arm soreness:

“You ice it; you’ve got to rest it. Really, at the end of the day it’s like anything – it just needs time. But I cannot do as much with the warm-up session. I can start the warm-up session as we’re doing routes on air and just put a little more touch on it as you get through it. By the time you get to seven-on-seven, I’d only thrown about 15 to 20 balls, and that was the right amount. So you can build back a little bit of that each day.”

On if understanding your body better is a part of being a pro:

“Absolutely. When I was young I would just keep throwing and keep getting worse and keep figuring there was some technical aspect. As you get a little bit tired of throwing you have to use your legs a little bit more. And usually with older quarterbacks, that’s a little bit of it is that the legs start to go.”

On if he’s putting himself on a pass count:

“I don’t want to keep an exact pass count because it’s different days and different reps. I know my body, and I know when I’ve got to say, ‘Okay. Throttle back.’ And that’s what we did. It was the first day yesterday. I felt it and we just dialed back a little bit, and we still had a good practice today, so that’s good.”

On if he experienced something similar to his arm during last year’s camp:

“Yes, it happens every year, so I would say it’s probably the same amount and part of the process. It really is.”

On if he’s looking forward to facing against another team for their first preseason game in a week:

“It’ll be fun just to play a game. With this many fans (in San Antonio), you come out here and you feel like you gain that experience quite a bit. When I’m out here, I kind of play at that tempo or speed just because I feel it benefits me, and I’m a little too competitive about it. But I think it’ll be very enjoyable just to see a different defense out there once in awhile.”

On the experience of being at the NFL Hall of Fame:

“I’m excited. I love the tradition and history of the game, and we’re pretty lucky as players to be a part of something so special and some of the people who have come before us. It’s going to be fun to go in there. For me, I read a lot about it and love to hear what some personalities and people have to say about it. So it’ll be really fun to get in there and read and see a lot of the things.”

On what he remembers about former Cowboys RB Emmitt Smith growing up:

“Even though I was a Green Bay Packers fan back then, I realized what he did was phenomenal. That whole team was special, obviously, and I think they put their stamp on the history of the game. It’s going to be a special week for him, his family and all the people who were associated with the
Cowboys. They all know what he accomplished was unique.”

On if he’s ever been to Canton, Ohio to see the NFL Hall of Fame:

“I never have, so I’m excited.”

On knowing when to rest yourself mentally and physically:

“I think that’s just mental. I think sometimes you forget that it’s every bit as mental as it is physical. As you get older you kind of grow into it and it’s just part of the routine to know how much time mentally you need when you need to just take a nap for an hour and when you can keep grinding and go forward. That’s just a part of learning over the years. Wade’s (Phillips) a smart coach who understands that and he has a good mix of that.”

On how Bryant has done during training camp:

“He’s done good. He’s a hard working kid and I think he’s got a good future in front of him.”

On building a good connection on the field with Bryant:

“He has a good sense of timing, and he has good hands, so it definitely helps a quarterback.”

On how his connection with WR Roy Williams on the field is going:

“Roy’s (Williams) done a good job, and has had a good camp. He’s running hard and making some good catches so it’s been a good camp so far.”

On having both Williams and Bryant on the field this year:

“It’s good. We’ve done it a few times now and it’s still a long way to go, but we’re definitely coming along, and I think hopefully they’ll be another weapon for us this year to put out on the field.”

On knowing how to use all three running backs for the offense:

“I think as you can tell, injury factors are a big deal. You have to have at least two guys, and we’re lucky enough to have three. At some point we’re going to use all of them. It’s just part of how seasons go, and they’re all pretty good at everything, so I think you just have to keep mixing it up and doing different things. It’s really what the defense dictates. They’re going to bring another guy down and going to want to be around the box, send a lot of people, and we have to get the ball out. If they want to sit back, then we’re going to give those guys the ball.”

On if he thinks the offense has figured out a way to maximize using all three running backs:

“I don’t think you can go into it thinking that. What you have to do is say, ‘Hey, you’re up. We’re running this play.’ And we’re lucky enough to have guys that do all those things well. You just have to watch the numbers and everything.”

On if RB Felix Jones is one of the most humble potential superstars he’s ever been around:

“Yes. Felix (Jones) is one of a kind, definitely. Marion’s (Barber) pretty humble too. We’re lucky to have a lot of individuals who put the team first, who are really good individual talent, and I don’t know that it’s like that everywhere.”

On if things wouldn’t work if they didn’t have different personalities:

“It could work, it just would make things more of a grind, emotionally. But Miles Austin, Marion, Felix, Jason Witten, Roy – all of these guys are team first guys, and I don’t ever hear about how they’re not getting the ball or anything like that. They know about winning, who’s going to get the ball, who I think is open and what the defense is doing. There’s no big secret behind that and that’s part of it. It’s easier to go out and do your job when you know that.”

On how you expand from a year like he had with WR Miles Austin:

“You’re always expanding. I think it’s the same as a player trying to get better and trying to do more things. You already know what you do well. I don’t think you spend a ton of hours doing the things you’re already good at. You work on the things that you have to improve upon. That’s the same way with the relationship between y our receiver and quarterback.”

On how he would assess the offense’s work in the red zone:

“It’s always a work in progress. Plus, you can run the ball and everyone’s tackling so it’s a little bit difficult because the defense will always win when you’re going to throw it seven out of eight times because they have eight guys defending a 25-yard area from front to back. It’s a difficult process, but
that’s what makes it fun. They’re going to get a lot of days, and we’re going to find different wrinkles and different ways to do better. We got better as it went down a little bit. We had our chances today, we just didn’t take advantage of it.”

On who’s impressed him during camp:

“The team, but no one specifically. Everyone is working hard and I don’t think there’s any one individual I think.”