Jerry Jones has been holding out hope for things that can't possibly happen for quite a few weeks now, but it seems like he's finally coming around to accept the fact that there's very little left to be gained from the 2010 season.
He signaled his willingness to deal with reality on Sunday by telling the world that Tony Romo isn't going to be back on the field until the Cowboys are preparing for the 2011 campaign. Jones admitted that Romo is behind where the team wanted him to be in his rehab from a broken collarbone and that means Jon Kitna will close out the year as the team's starting quarterback.
"There is no decision if Romo is hurt," Jones said. "We've never thought about putting him out there hurt. And the fact that Kitna is playing well, healthy, off a win, you've got to think about that as well -- rusty Romo [or] a guy who is playing well enough to win. All of that will have been in the mix. But, as I stand here right before the game, he is not ready to play."
Jones, for reasons known only to him, won't place Romo on injured reserve so the team can take a look at another player, but we'll take the small steps toward a totally sensible man at the helm of the Cowboys. Putting Romo back into the lineup at this point satisfies neither of the possible motivations that should be driving Dallas at this point in time.
Romo isn't a young player who needs to be evaluated at this point in the season. We know, the Cowboys aren't about that, but the point is that he's still this team's starting quarterback regardless of what Kitna does on the field. He's got nothing to prove to anyone and the only need is for him to get as healthy as possible by the start of 2011.
So that's one motivation out of the way, leaving only the desire to win football games to explain why Romo might come back to work. Right now, there's no argument that would find Romo, after so much time away from the game, offers the Cowboys a better chance of winning than Kitna. He might offer them the same chance of winning, although that's debatable, but if the Cowboys really care about knocking off the Cardinals and Eagles then there's no reason to work Romo back into the mix at this point.
Everyone else realized that a while ago, of course, but give Double J a break. Sometimes the way things look from the luxury suite can be deceiving.
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