OXNARD, Calif. -- Tony Romo hasn't taken a snap under center
in a regular season game for the Dallas Cowboys. Still, the backup
quarterback has been learning and improving since signing as a
rookie free agent two years ago.
"Understanding the concepts of our offense -- where to go with
the ball, protections, blitzes -- (he is) way down the road from
where he was," coach Bill Parcells said. "He's very smart."
Parcells won't say if Romo or Drew Henson will be first off the
bench after starter Drew Bledsoe in Saturday night's preseason
opener at Arizona. Romo and Henson have split snaps with the No. 2
offense during two intrasquad scrimmages.
Romo has seemed more effective than Henson moving the offense,
though Parcells only highlighted two turnovers in a nine-play
segment by Romo in Wednesday's scrimmage. The coach insists there
is nothing wrong with Henson, who has been seen with his thumb
wrapped and has thrown a lot of off-the-mark passes.
In the preseason last year, Romo completed 24 of 39 passes for
250 yards. He was the backup the first six games, seeing action
only as a holder on kicks. While he was also in the backup role two
other games without playing, he said he has been learning all
along.
"I just understand what it takes before the snap of the
football a lot more than I used to," Romo said. "And I'm
understanding more what the defense is trying to do than
necessarily just what we're trying to do. ... I'm trying to make
sure I stay consistent."
Troy Aikmam, who won three Super Bowls as the Cowboys
quarterback in the 1990s, was at practice Thursday. He said he's
impressed with Romo, who played at NCAA Division I-AA Eastern
Illinois.
"If you didn't know his background, how he throws the ball, you
wouldn't know he was an undrafted quarterback," Aikman said.<
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^T.O. TIME:@ Whether Parcells cared or not, he heard plenty
about Terrell Owens' dismissal from the Philadelphia Eagles'
training camp.
"I can't say I paid much attention to it. You couldn't help it
if you're trying to keep up with the world news, which I usually
try to do late at night," Parcells said Thursday. "You couldn't
help but be exposed to some of it."
Parcells said he's not too interested in the T.O situation right
now, even though the Eagles are an NFC East rival.
"I'm trying to keep my own house from burning down right now,"
Parcells said.
But he will be interested in Owens and the Eagles on Oct. 9 and
Nov. 14, when the division rivals play.<
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^FULL GLENN:@ Terry Glenn has played all 16 games just twice in
his nine NFL seasons. He missed the final 10 games last season with
a foot injury.
Still, Parcells isn't worried about Glenn's preparation for this
season.
"I think Terry has done everything he can do possibly, right
now this year, to be ready to play this season," Parcells said.
"I mean everything. He has been working out ... he worked out like
a fanatic the whole spring."
Glenn played every game in 2003 when he reunited with Parcells.
He also started 15 games as a rookie in 1996 when Parcells was his
coach.
"When he's with me, he's always been that way," Parcells said.
"In that interim time, I don't know what he was like. With me,
he's always been the same. I think he had a great sense of
determination this offseason."<
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^REESE'S RETURN:@ Izell Reese signed as a free agent with the
Cowboys this summer, returning to the team that drafted him in 1998
and for which he played his first four seasons.
Things changed quite a bit in the three seasons the safety was
away, the most notable being Parcells as the coach.
"Much different, much different," Reese said. "He has his own
boat and his own show the way he runs things. But as a veteran
player, you respect that and you respect a coach who runs a tight
ship. It's clean-cut and everybody goes by his rules, and everybody
respects him."
Reese was a sixth-round draft pick, and then played in 46 games
for the Cowboys. He then started 15 games his only year in Denver
before spending the last two seasons in Buffalo.
"It's a weird feeling coming back where you started," Reese
said. "All the new faces, but it feels good to be back. ... (The
Cowboys) told me they didn't have the free safety spot solidified
yet. That's the kind of opportunity you want as a free agent."<
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^EXTRA POINTS:@ Parcells said Lawrence Taylor is coming to the
Cowboys camp at some point, but he just doesn't know when. Jim Burt
and Carl Banks, two of Parcells' other former players from the New
York Giants, worked with the Dallas defense this week. ... When
Parcells saw someone scribbling plays down during a practice this
session, he had the clipboard confiscated. "Any time you see a guy
down there writing something down, you like to find out," Parcells
said. "Turns out, I guess, he was a high school coach from New
Jersey." ... Nose tackle Jason Ferguson (right ankle) sat out
practice for the second straight day. Parcells said he's "iffy"
for the game.<
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^QUOTABLE:@ Parcells, when asked why he didn't name an offensive
coordinator this offseason: "Because I didn't want to, as simple
as that. I want to get a little equality in that room (when
offensive coaches meet). I want five voices. I don't want a
dictator and serfs, some fiefdoms, or whatever you call those
guys."<