Tony Romo is entering his 12th NFL season. (USATSI)
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Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo may be ahead of schedule for returning to the field after December back surgery, according to owner and general manager Jerry Jones, but at 34, the 11-year vet has a lot of mileage. And this is troubling to another former Cowboys quarterback, Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, who retired at 34.
"I came back in a relatively short period of time because of when I had my surgery, so he's at least afforded more time to get ready," Aikman said Wednesday, according to the team's website. "But having said that, two back surgeries in less than a year at his age, I would be a bit concerned.
"I'm hopeful that he's able to come back -- everybody is. This team won't be the same if he's not able to. I anticipate that he will come back. But to say that, 'Hey, he's ahead of schedule and everything's going fine,' I'm not sure how you can really measure that here in April."
That's a fair point, especially when Romo hadn't yet begun throwing passes when Jones said several weeks ago that the quarterback was "ahead of expectations."
Both Romo and Jones have faced criticism in recent years; the former for ill-timed turnovers and not winning in the postseason, the latter for just about everything else, including signing Romo to a $108-million contract extension last offseason.
But Jones, who has made it clear that he will not relinquish his GM duties, doesn't think the Cowboys are in rebuilding mode because they have their franchise quarterback.
"You don't rebuild with Romo," he said late last month. "The firepower we have on offense and where we are with our running backs, and our receivers -- you don't rebuild with an offense that's got the capability we've got. We didn't bring [Scott] Linehan in here to rebuild."
It's also why Aikman doesn't think the Cowboys will draft a quarterback next month.
"Didn't sound like it," Aikman said. "I think Brandon Weeden obviously has some talent, and Kyle Orton, I'm assuming he's back. I've always been a big Kyle Orton fan. I think he's fully capable, and I think he proved that in the last game of the season. It doesn't sound like they'll be drafting anybody. But if they can find a free agent to come out and at some point down the road play like Tony has played, that's a pretty good way to go."
It's not often that you stumble upon a free agent that can become a quality starter for the next decade. Also not helping: when your owner doubles as general manager and admits that he's previoulsy paid some players he probably shouldn't have.
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Lions RB Reggie Bush, Joique Bell will probably have 'a split role' this season
Via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Lions offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said Tuesday that he envisions his top two running backs, Reggie Bush and Joique Bell, "kind of having a split role" this season.
Some of you might be wondering why this is news. Didn't Bush and Bell pretty much split carries last season? Kind of, yeah. Bush touched the ball 277 times in 14 games; Bell had 219 touches in 16 games. But Lombardi's words hint at more of a 50-50 split between the two players. When Bush was healthy last season, there was no doubt that he was the Lions' lead back. With Bell signing a three-year contract last month that handed him $4.3 million guaranteed, Detroit understandably wants to see more from him to get the highest return on their investment as possible.Obviously, an even RB committee caps the value of both players, but Bush is the real loser here as he would stand to lose playing time while Bell would gain. Bell racked up almost 1,200 yards and scored eight times despite his limited workload in 2013. It's reasonable to think he can improve on those numbers. Meanwhile, don't pay too much Reggie's name value this summer.
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