Before Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo delivered the concession speech of a lifetime this week, he reportedly asked for the chance to win his job back in practice.
"Tony's smart," Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones recently told The MMQB. "He's very bright. And so when he came out and said it, in the end, I don't think it took him long to figure that wouldn't be a great thing for the team. We've got a good thing, and no one wants Dak (Prescott) looking over his shoulder."
While it might seem surprising given how gracious he was earlier this week, Romo peppered context clues about the situation throughout his six-minute address to reporters on Tuesday. This was not something that happened willingly, with the only tipping point being Romo's hasty acceptance of reality.
Just listen to Jones, who also told the site: "We've got supreme confidence that Dak is our future. We've just seen too much. And you may say, 'Well, it's only been nine games.' No, it's the full body of work. And it's not just on the field, it's off the field, too. It's how he handles every situation -- bringing us back down two scores in San Francisco; last week, he leads the game-winning drive twice in Pittsburgh; coming back against Philly."
If you're Romo, there is no fighting this. In the interim, you simply stay ready in case they fall out of love with Prescott as quickly as they began to swoon just a few months ago.
As Drew Bledsoe pointed out Wednesday, the worst may be yet to come for Romo. Should Prescott keep up his current level of play, the Cowboys are a shoo-in to make a deep run into the playoffs. During the beginning of the Tom Brady era, Bledsoe had to bide his time while planning the next move.
Recently, owner Jerry Jones said that Romo would someday soon make an excellent coach or offensive coordinator, though Romo made clear he was not ready for a second act. On Thursday, Jones told reporters that it was "very tenable" to see both Romo and Prescott on the same roster a year from now, and that he has "no plans for (Romo) not to be part of the Dallas Cowboys. Not a consideration."
Despite Jones' dream scenario, like Bledsoe, this will likely involve Romo playing football somewhere else. And like Bledsoe, it won't be fun for anyone but the starting quarterback in the interim.
