Tony Romo feels ready, “very confident” going into preseason debut

Tony Romo doesn’t know how much game action he’ll see Friday against the Miami Dolphins, but he’s confident about playing well.

Romo has had the best offseason of his career and has been sharp throughout training camp. He sat out Wednesday’s practice and is ready for his first game action since having his 2015 season cut short by fracturing his collarbone for a second time on Thanksgiving.

“Every year you have off, the first preseason game that you play in you feel the excitement,” Romo said. “You have to get out there and play against a good pass rush like we’re going to see. I think it’ll be a great test for us.”

Romo, 36, is expected to play only a series or two, and then progress to likely playing the first half in the “dress rehearsal” game at Seattle on Aug. 25.

After that, Romo will be focused on the 2016 regular-season opener against the Giants on Sept. 11. Well, Romo has already begun preparations for the Giants.

“I’ve already started looking at the Giants,” Romo said. “I’ve already getting some study notes just on that and the Redskins and different teams.”

Romo feels confident that the Cowboys will bounce back from a dreadful 4-12 season in which Romo missed 12 games by fracturing his collarbone twice.

The Cowboys went 1-11 without Romo, showing just how valuable the quarterback is to the team. And Romo has liked what he’s seen so far in camp.

“I thought we improved as a team,” Romo said. “I think each individual got a lot of reps. You learn a lot of the subtle situational football from the thinking to the muscle memory aspect of it, and just pleased with the way things have went. I’m excited to get out there and hopefully show what we’re capable of.”

Added coach Jason Garrett: “I think Tony did an outstanding job. He came in ready to go. He did more in the offseason program than he has been able to do over the last couple or three years. I think that showed. He was sharp from the outset. He looks fresh to me. He’s moving around well and is throwing the ball well.”

Unofficially, Romo finished training camp 90-of-140 (64.3 percent) passing in team and seven-on-seven drills. He had standout days, such as going 8-of-8 in seven-on-seven drills on Monday.

“You always want to be perfect,” Romo said. “At the same time, there’s a constant evolution about putting new plays in, constant thinking, and challenging yourself but yet staying within the system.

“Then it’s time to go play. You tighten everything up and you simplify it and you go out there and do it. From day to day, that’s always the mental part of it that you’re trying to assess, but I’m excited about what we did here. I feel very confident going in. Words are meaningless. You got to go prove it.”

Romo and the Cowboys hope to do that season and erase a forgettable 2015 season. Romo and Jason Witten have always said the Super Bowl window for them is now, and Romo had a succinct answer in what the Cowboys needed to do in order to reach that goal.

“You gotta win, you gotta play good,” Romo said.

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Tony Romo feels ready, “very confident” going into preseason debut."