IRVING, Texas - If Tony Romo had last week to do all over again, the Cowboys' quarterback admitted Sunday he would've changed a few things regarding his approach to the short week against the Eagles.
But hesitant of sounding like he was making excuses for his performance on Thanksgiving Day, it was even more clear that Romo would've much rather changed a few things that occurred against the Eagles on the field as well.
"More than anything, the short week, it's tough on everyone," Romo said. "There's no excuses. We needed to play better. No matter which way you look at it, it wasn't good enough."
And statistically, Romo was the worst of the season, failing to throw a touchdown pass, which ended his personal streak of 38 games, which is a Cowboys' franchise record and the fifth-longest in NFL history.
Romo's 53.7 rating was lower than his Week 1 game against the 49ers, who picked off him three times for a 60.8 rating. Both games ended with a home loss as Romo has just one touchdown pass and five interceptions in those two games. He only has three interceptions combined in his other nine starts this year.
In both cases, Romo acknowledged his preparation has been altered somewhat by the schedule. Getting his back ready to play each game has been challenging. And that continued on Sunday when the Cowboys held him out of practice like a typical Wednesday, or four days before kickoff. This week, the schedule is altered with the Thursday night game in Chicago, but at least Romo is getting a full seven days between games.
Romo said the back didn't "fire off" like he wanted it to against the Eagles, but said he expects a much better performance this week.
"It's getting better," Romo said of his back. "I think getting back to what feels like a normal routine will help this week. Doing the little things to help you get where you need to be. It's the first time you've ever had a short week, you had to figure out what we thought was the best. Looking back, I think I'd change a few things. I don't think we have any more short weeks this year so that'll be a benefit moving forward."
