IRVING, Texas – A day off of practice each week could become a routine for Tony Romo, even if he won't commit to this specific schedule the rest of the way.
Romo, who didn't practice Wednesday this week or last week as he works his way off offseason back surgery, said he felt better and stronger playing against the Rams on Sunday than he did the previous two weeks to start the season.
"I didn't have quite the strength I wanted to explode off in the first couple weeks, and last week I was able to during the week through some changes we made," Romo said. "I think that it's going to only continue to get better. Last week I was pretty excited about the way that I was moving and feeling, so I think I'll continue to feel better each week."
Whether or not that's entirely based on taking last Wednesday off is hard to tell, but it worked well enough for the Cowboys to give him another Wednesday off this week.
Romo's rest days will continue to be based on how he feels coming out of his previous game. He said the most important thing is to make sure he's going into games feeling the best he can.
He said he didn't have a good answer for taking off Wednesday and not a Thursday or a Friday, but he added that it's obviously a little deeper than just superstition.
Head coach Jason Garrett said the most important issue is to make sure Romo's practice determination and availability is based on how he feels coming out of the previous week's game, but he also explained why Wednesday makes sense. [embedded_ad]
"Typically, Wednesday is a run and play-action type day for our whole football team," Garrett said. "He can get a lot of that work done in the walk-through like he did this morning, and then some of the more situational stuff will happen as the week goes on."
It's also not exactly a full day of rest for Romo when he doesn't practice.
He goes to the weight room for rehab, which he said isn't as enjoyable as being on the field. But it's necessary for him coming off a back surgery.
"I think you have to change your routine, you have to work your butt off if you're going to come back and be able to maintain through a football season, through the rest of your career really," he said. "I understand that. If you love the game, you have no problem doing that, and that's easy for me."
Romo said he's not thinking much about how the Cowboys, who have considered giving him a day off later in the week, will decide to rest him in the future. Garrett emphasized that there's no specific formula for determining Romo's practice availability.
They're just going off how he feels.
"We're making no determination on what his schedule is for the course of the season," Garrett said. "This week, we feel like this is the right thing to do based on how he's feeling coming out of the game."
