The entire Dallas Cowboys team is coming to the defense of quarterback Tony Romo after reports surfaced that the veteran had been slammed in team meetings. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported defensive lineman Jason Hatcher bashed Romo after the quarterback audibled away from run play at the line scrimmage and ended up throwing a pick six. Now, everyone in the locker room is denying the claim.
Rapoport reported the entire Cowboys team was frustrated over the lack of a run game in the offense and blamed Romo as the reason. The quarterback has reportedly audibled away from run plays numerous times so far this season. Head coach Jason Garrett did not feed into the rumor, instead noting the lineman was being a vocal leader.
"You want your leaders to lead," Garrett said, via NFL Media. "Jason's been a good player here for awhile, and it's good for people like him to speak up. It was all positive. He didn't call anybody out. He just talked about a sense of urgency and what we all need to accomplish as a team."
Owner Jerry Jones is going as far as to deny any claim of a heated locker room exchange period. In speaking on KRLD-FM, Jones adamantly denied the report that Hatcher singled out Romo in the team meeting.
"There was absolutely - and I emphasize absolutely - no reference in any way to another player," Jones said. "It's absurd to think that a defensive player would be critical of anybody specifically on offense, or an offensive player be critical of anybody on defense. That just doesn't happen, wouldn't happen and didn't happen."
Hatcher echoed the statements of Jones, referring to Romo as the best quarterback in the league. Saying Romo is the best in the league might be a far stretch, but he certainly is sitting near the top of the pack. In 115 pass attempts, Romo has only tossed one interception. That is better than 27 other quarterbacks in the league. He also has the second-highest completion percentage, falling just behind Peyton Manning.
While he is doing well passing the ball, Garrett is hopeful the team is get back to a more balanced offense, which will be needed later in the season if injuries rack up. DeMarco Murray is a fully capable back that Romo will look to rely on as the season goes on.
