The Cowboys are still figuring out just how they'll split up the reps for Sunday's preseason opener in Canton. It's a safe bet that whatever they figure out will have us watching a lot more Stephen McGee than Tony Romo.
That doesn't sit right with the starting quarterback. Todd Archer of the Dallas Morning News asked Romo if the quarterback feels he needs a lot of work in the preseason and got a surprising answer. Romo said that he believes he needs as much work as possible during the exhibition season. Before you go rushing to cancel his subscription to the Brett Favre Guide to Quarterbacking, check out his answer to why he wants to play in games that won't do anything to impact his spot on the roster.
"Because it's fun," Romo said. "It's enjoyable. It's football. Usually football players during football season usually end up playing football. We'll try and play a little bit."
See that, folks, he's just having fun out there. Just like the Ol' Gunslinger himself. At least, just like the Ol' Gunslinger when he could be bothered to show up for practice with his team.
If this was last year, we'd probably be forced to pause here to make a joke about how Romo wants to play in the preseason because that's when he's most successful. Four straight wins in December and January means that we'll just have to find other ways to find the humor in life.
All kidding aside, Romo could stand to learn something from Favre here. It's great that he has the desire to play but the risk/reward profile is out of whack. Romo isn't working with a new center, he's not developing a relationship with any new receivers and he isn't coming back from an injury. He would be risking one, however, and that's reason enough for Romo to spend a lot more time wearing a backwards baseball cap than a helmet.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com and Blue Star. You can follow him on Twitter.
