The Dallas Cowboys are approaching a very important game in their quest to stay alive in the NFC East as they face the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 9. The Cowboys are struggling to find ways to win game as they wait for Tony Romo to get back on the field in a few weeks. With Dez Bryant returning, he will take the attention of the secondary which the Cowboys are hoping opens the door for big games for Terrance Williams and Jason Witten.
Cassel has not had much success throwing the ball yet this year and the Cowboys are hoping that changes soon. Right now in the past three games the Cowboys passing game has dropped to 24th in the league. Cassel is not launching the ball down field which must change now that Bryant is back on the field. The presence of the wide receiver did nothing in Week 8, but could help now that the two players have been together more.
"The more that I can be out there with him and understand his body language, the type of routes he runs and everything like that and just familiarize myself with the player himself, I think that's great," Cassel said, via ESPN.com.
Cassel was spotted wearing a knee brace at practice which drew some concerns. The quarterback said it was only for precautionary reasons, but injuries could be an issue. If that were the case, Brandon Weeden would be back under center. Many wonder if the third-string quarterback should be playing anyways despite his lack of success earlier in the year. According to head coach Jason Garrett, there will be no quarterback changes until Romo is healthy.
"I don't want to make any of those determinations, but Matt is going to be our starting quarterback this week," Garrett said, via ESPN.com. "He's done some good things for us the last couple of weeks even though he hasn't won the ballgames."
The biggest need for the Cowboys is to get Darren McFadden going. The Cowboys released Joseph Randle earlier in the week, leaving McFadden and Christine Michael as the top two options in the run game. McFadden has had success recently while Michael will get more playing time. The Cowboys need the run game to be on point in Week 9 if Cassel has any chance of setting up the pass.
For me, I'm going to keep preparing the way that I've been preparing all year and going out there and grinding," McFadden said, via ESPN.com. "To me, I go out there and grind. That's something that I do. Being able to get those carries and just come back the next week and do it again, I'm very thankful for it."
According to ESPN's Todd Archer, Romo is back to throwing on the field. However, he cannot come back until around the Thanksgiving game which is what the team originally predicted. That means it is the Cassel show until then.