Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: Kellen Moore is Tony Romo’s backup

Kellen Moore threw more interceptions than touchdowns, and didn’t win either of the games he started last season.

But the Dallas Cowboys are confident he has the ability to win games in the NFL, and owner Jerry Jones didn’t hesitate when asked if Moore would be Tony Romo’s backup next season.

“Yes,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan on Thursday morning. “I think Kellen Moore has shown the ‘it.’ He has the instincts. He has the anticipation. He knows what’s going on. He gives me and us a great feeling about basically improving. Obviously those interceptions were not something you can live with, but some of the stuff he was doing was pretty obvious that the team was responding.

“He was able to move the team.”

Moore joined the team midseason a year ago from the Detroit Lions, and he played in three games. He replaced Matt Cassel midway through a loss against the Jets, and then started the final two games – losing to Buffalo and Washington.

Moore went 61-for-104 passing (58.7 percent) for 779 yards with four touchdowns and six interceptions.

Moore’s biggest supporter is offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, and it’s clear that the Cowboys brass has also gotten behind him for the near future.

With Romo injured much of last season, three backups combined to go 1-11. That’s why quarterback has been a talking point all offseason and the Cowboys addressed it in the draft last week.

They tried to trade back into the first round to land Memphis’ Paxton Lynch, but were unsuccessful. They also attempted to trade up in the fourth round for Michigan State’s Connor Cook, but ultimately settled for Mississippi State’s Dak Prescott in the fourth round.

“I don’t look at Dak Prescott as developing – not my word at all,” Jones said. “Dak Prescott has a chance to come in here and get snaps. We all don’t want any of these guys to get a great amount of snaps because we want the obvious. We want Romo to take the snaps.”

At the end of the day, though, Jones is comfortable with the quarterback group he has assembled behind Romo. Along with Moore and Prescott, the Cowboys also have Jameill Showers on the roster.

None of the backups have won a game in the NFL, which may make some skeptical, but Jones viewed it in a different light.

“You say, ‘Well, a veteran coming in off the street that has played in 50 games, you at least know he usually has some wins in the NFL,’” Jones said. “That’s the case, but how did they get the wins? They had to go in there some time and play before they got the wins.

“So I’m not trying to be trite, but you take Kellen and you take Dak Prescott and Jameill Showers and I really like what we’ve got to work with out there.”

This story was originally published May 5, 2016 at 9:18 AM with the headline "Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: Kellen Moore is Tony Romo’s backup."