- Messages
- 5,432
- Reaction score
- 0
Tony Romo: On if he's friends with LeBron James; quitting football for PGA
What Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had to say as he addressed the New England media on Wednesday, October 12, 2011.
Q: Did you ever get a response from the league or from anyone when you mentioned the defensive linemen calling out the snap count? Did you get any help?
TR: Nope, no we didn't. I wasn't the one calling anyway so I wouldn't know if someone called or didn't call.
Q: With the new rules of the CBA, there were some new guidelines with giving players time off during the bye week. Did you notice any difference in the scheduling of the bye week?
TR: For us, it helped just because we had a lot of guys banged up, myself included just with the ribs and everything. It was nice to have a couple of days where you felt like you could get your body right. I think that's going to help us going forward. As far as the difference, I don't know, in the past you've had two or three days. An extra day, I don't know if that it was that crazy or different but it helped our team, I think, at that time.
Q: LeBron James, a big Cowboys fan, alluded to trying out for an NFL team. He was probably joking but do you ever think of him as a wide receiver?
TR: I'm sure he'd be phenomenal. He's usually pretty good at whatever he does.
Q: Do you know him at all?
TR: Just in passing.
Q: How good would your golf game have to be to give up football and concentrate on the PGA Tour full-time?
TR: That would never happen. I love football too much.
Q: You don't think you could get that good?
TR: No, I don't think so.
Q: Can you talk about what you see from this Patriots defense, specifically the secondary?
TR: I think - you can tell they're well coached. They play the right technique. They played really good ball last week. When you watch them, they've got a couple of big guys up front that can create a problem. You just have to be ready - they do a lot of different stuff. Obviously, they're well coached and they do a lot of different things. You just have to be prepared for a lot of different stuff, a lot of two-man type coverages and things of that nature.
Q: What stuck out about Albert Haynesworth and Andre Carter when they were with the Redskins?
TR: They're both good players. Andre has a great motor, he's always fighting and he's going to go to the whistle. He gets off the ball well, he's a strong player. He can rush the quarterback good but yet he always gets back. With Albert, you know, he's a tough matchup. He's a good player that you have to account for. He's got a great history I guess winning player of the years and he's just a guy that we have to be ready for.
Q: The Patriots defense has given up 28 pass plays of at least 20 yards this season. What are you noticing with that trend and how you can attack them?
TR: It's early in the year. I think the offseason, there are some things of that nature that probably took a little time for schematically to get a lot of stuff in. They played really well last week. In stretches they've played really good ball. I don't know that that's who they are. I think really, they're a good defensive unit that's just coming into their own lately. I think they're going to be pretty good the rest of the way.
Q: What did you learn from being a teammate of Drew Bledsoe for a couple seasons?
TR: Drew is a consummate professional. He was a good player. I think just being around him - he was sharp, Drew's a smart guy, he picked up things very fast. Being around him, you could tell that his football IQ was really high and life in general in a lot of ways. I just think I tried to just soak up little things that he did that you see and want to take with you along the way. He had a great career and I learned a bunch from being around him.
Q: You've been in a couple of late game situations that haven't ended well, high-profile ones especially. What do you take from some of those games, how do you move forward when it all goes wrong right at the end?
TR: You never want that to happen. We were also fortunate to have all the things go right against Washington and against San Francisco. For every game that's the other way, there's another one the other side. Everyone is good in this league. You have to minimize turnovers in key situations. We did that for two of the games and two of the games we didn't. That's really what it comes down to.
Q: How much pressure is there in being the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys?
TR: Probably the same is there is for being the quarterback for the Patriots. You have to win. We play in a league that is about winning and losing and coming out every Sunday under the pressure and performing. Unless you do that, you're not going to play very long.
Q: If you had your choice would you stay in the pocket the entire game or are there instances where you design a play where you want to get out of the pocket and change up the offensive look for the defense that way?
TR: It depends who you're going against. You game plan certain teams differently. If they have a great front-four, you want to move around and help your protection by sliding the front, things like that. If you feel comfortable with the matchups then you might stay in the pocket. It's just relative to the opponent. Each week we kind of do things differently. We're not the same team every week. We kind of take what we think a different team does or doesn't do well and try to attack them where we think they're weak.
Q: Jason Garrett talked about the challenges of a relatively young offensive line. What has the biggest challenge been for you working with a younger offensive line? And a smaller, quicker one?
TR: I don't know. I guess in the grand scheme it's just the learning that takes place during the experiences of the game and seeing all the different looks and things of that nature that allow you to react slightly quicker. These guys have done a great job. They're continuing to grow individually and collectively as a group. Each week that goes by, they get better and better. I'm excited about them going forward.
Q: When you play against a defense run by Bill Belichick, you mention that they try to do different things and disguise and all that, is that the toughest thing in that you don't know exactly what you're getting pre-snap?
TR: I think that's definitely part of it. If you're ever going to become one of the better quarterbacks in the league, you better be able to assess it after the snap. That's just part of the process. You have to have the ability to start your read after the snap and go from there, otherwise you can only be so good.
Q: At 2-2 with the division you're in, do you feel like maybe this is a unique opportunity if you guys can get hot that you guys still have a chance to compete for the division?
TR: We're not thinking about any of that stuff right now. We're thinking about the Patriots and trying to play them this week and play our best game and find a way to get a win. That's really what this is all about. All that other stuff will take care of itself down the road. We don't worry about stuff we can't control.
