On the third play of the Dallas Cowboys' opening drive against the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday, Tony Romo attempted to slide, was simultaneously hit from behind and squirmed in pain.
It was all too familiar to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
"I was a little more reverent than that," Jones said during a Friday morning appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. "It's called praying. Seriously. It was a complete replay for me from almost a year ago sitting there with those thoughts. It was just surreal. I'm sure we all had our own thoughts there. I really did pray that he was going to be OK."
The awkward hit caused what Romo described as a "crunching" force on his spine, leaving the quarterback writhing on the turf and Jones pleading to a higher power. But as Romo said, it was encouraging, because a hit like that might not have been easy to recover from in past years.
Still, with Romo expected to be fine and ready to play Week 1, the injury did prompt some questions about Plan B for the Cowboys. Jones insists he isn't having second thoughts about his quarterback's longevity.
"I think you add that to the fact (Romo is) the veteran he is and I don't handicap it any more than I would be if it were five years ago with him, really, I don't," Jones said of his quarterback. "But certainly I like what we're doing at backup quarterback."
This is where it becomes intriguing. A few weeks ago, there were quiet rumblings of concern surrounding the backup quarterback situation. Considering Romo's injury-prone past, Kellen Moore's broken ankle, and with memories of Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel wearing the star still fresh in everyone's minds, it was expected the Cowboys would at least explore an outside solution.
Then a Daktacular first three weeks of the preseason happened. Now, all is well for Jones, who won't openly say Dak Prescott is an upgrade over Weeden and Cassel, but sure loves to rave about the rookie.
"We've also got the fact that Dak was so outstanding in college," Jones rhapsodized after maintaining he wasn't uncomfortable with Weeden or Cassel in 2015. "He carried his college team to many victories against some strong opponents in the SEC, so all of that gives you -- you say I'm not uncomfortable. Comfortable may not be the right word."
You can almost hear Jones' eyes light up as he describes Prescott and the potential he brings to Dallas. It's the first time since an unheralded Romo burst onto the scene a decade ago that the Cowboys' owner has shown such fire for a future signal-caller. And it should be equally as exciting for the team's fans, who might have their most rock-solid backup solution -- small sample size aside -- in years.
