Jerry Jones Says Romo Might Not Play Again This Year

Added on Oct 28, 2010 by Jason Kearney in

NFL

Jerry Jones didn’t get where he is by being stupid. Sure, he may like plastic surgery more than Joan Rivers but he’s definitely a sharp guy. For that reason he’s not going to risk his franchise quarterback if the Cowboys are on a one way ticket to a losing season. Jones said that the Cowboys’ record and overall quality of play at the time of Romo’s return would dictate whether or not he gets to play. If the Cowboys are out of the playoffs and still tanking games, he’d likely shut his quarterback down for the season.

Here’s what J.J. had to say on Thursday:

“We’ll just see what the circumstances are at that time. We’ll see how well we’re playing. They remember what you do in November. That is an old college saying that my coach used to say all the time.”

“If we have an opportunity to have a good taste by the team playing well, have a good taste in our mouths … then even if you’re out of an opportunity to be in the playoffs, you want to be playing good.”

“I wouldn’t be presumptuous enough to know how fast he’s going to heal. The faster he heals, the better I like it. We will be weighing that aspect of where he is in the healing process relative to any risk that you might take with him playing.”

From the sound of it, Jones has already written off this season and will be handing coach Wade Phillips his pink slip immediately after the final gun of the closing game. Jones didn’t say this, but if the Cowboys are really playing poorly late in the year he’s better off not bringing Romo back as it could give the team a better position in the 2011 NFL draft. At this point, however, Jones dismissed the suggestion that the team might as well give younger players experience or evaluate talent:

“I think we should use everything we’ve got on every play to win every down. It’s important to this team every time we get a chance to win within the context of the game or in the context of the possession. We would not, in any way, compromise a chance to win the game by playing a player to evaluate or to give him experience.”

The way the Cowboys’ season is going, Romo should be happy that Jones didn’t suggest taking him out behind Cowboys Stadium and having him ‘humanely destroyed’ like a racehorse with a broken leg.