Tony Romo makes Cowboys’ Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams all better
Jeremy Mincey recently proclaimed that Tony Romo’s “not Jesus.” But the second coming of the Dallas Cowboys quarterback healed Dez Bryant on Sunday.
Bryant, playing through ankle, foot and knee injuries, caught four passes for 45 yards and a touchdown.
“I’ll tell you this, no lie, man, whenever you get No. 9 back, and I know the relationship me and him have on and off the field, it just gave me that extra juice to want to get back out there,” Bryant said. “I’m not going to lie. At the beginning of the week, I was like, ‘Man, I’m just going to see how this thing feels; we’re going to see how I roll.’ Just seeing him out there, I was like, ‘Man, I’ve just got to get right.’
“Every game matters, and I’ve just got to go out there and put it on the line. I thank God, because this is the best I’ve felt. I’m getting better by the week. I’m pretty close. I’m not there, but I’m pretty close.”
Romo’s return also did wonders for Terrance Williams. Williams had not had a touchdown in six games before a 31-yard strike against the Dolphins on Sunday.
Williams finished with four catches for 79 yards in his second-best game of the season.
I thank God, because this is the best I’ve felt. I’m getting better by the week.
Dez Bryant
on his injuries and the return of Tony Romo“Tony changed the play, and I was on the same page as him,” Williams said of his touchdown reception. “It just came down to earlier in this week, coach [Jason] Garrett pulled me to the side during our team period one day, Wednesday, and he said, ‘When the ball is thrown in the air, you have to go pluck it out of the air. Stop waiting on the ball to come to you.’
“Whenever coach Garrett or somebody like that tells me something like that, I try my best to do what he tells me. A prime example showed up today. The same thing he told me, I put it to good use.”
The Cowboys missed Romo, no doubt. But they missed Bryant just as much while he was sidelined for five games.
Bryant fractured his right foot in the season opener against the Giants and required surgery. He played the three previous games, but Bryant hadn’t looked quite like himself, even in a five-catch, 104-yard, one-touchdown performance against Philadelphia on Nov. 8.
Bryant practiced only two of the three practice days last week and was limited in those two as he worked through left knee and ankle injuries.
Bryant still isn’t 100 percent.
“I keep going back, and if you think about it, he missed the entire off-season with his contract, and then he came back for about a week at camp and pulled his hammy,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said.
“Of course, we protected him, and then he got ready to go about 10 days before the opener, and then he got hurt in the opener, so he’s played very little football. … He plays a skill position where timing and all that is important. So, you know, we’ll see. I know Dez. He’s only going to get better.”
Bryant’s touchdown catch set a team record: It marked his 50th touchdown from Romo, surpassing Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin for the most by a tandem. Bryant and Romo have played together only 69 games. It took Aikman and Irvin 128 games for their 49 touchdowns together.
“I think anytime you’re mentioned with Aikman and Irvin, it’s a special deal,” Romo said. “We’re lucky just to be in that breath than anything.
“Dez is a special player. He was great today on the sideline during the game. Played great. I love that kid.”
Bryant, who made his first All-Pro team last year, has 21 catches for 254 yards and two touchdowns this season.
Charean Williams: 817-390-7760, @NFLCharean
This story was originally published November 22, 2015 at 6:33 PM with the headline "Tony Romo makes Cowboys’ Dez Bryant, Terrance Williams all better."