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Tony Romo is working for the enemy.
New York Giants starting quarterback Daniel Jones, during a conference call Wednesday, revealed that he’s touched base with Romo — and will continue to — in an effort to glean information about the Dallas Cowboys’ offensive scheme.
“I spoke with Tony briefly,” Jones told reporters, per Pro Football Talk. “We didn’t get into the system a whole lot. I look forward to talking to some of those guys and hearing their perspective on it.”
Obviously Romo is no longer the Cowboys quarterback, but he became intimately familiar with former head coach Jason Garrett’s play-calling intricacies during his 14 years under center, and his advice is all the more meaningful now that Garrett is the Giants’ offensive coordinator.
Forced to grind tape amid the virtual offseason program, Jones grew excited over Garrett’s arrival after watching “guys [who] have been successful in [his system],” Romo included.
“I certainly did that, diving into some of the Cowboys stuff and what they had done in the past,” he said, per Pro Football Talk. “The rules make it tough to communicate a whole lot about that stuff, so there’s a little bit of patience involved in that until getting to a point where we could get the playbook and kind of understand some of the concepts and get some of the verbiage. But I did my best to be prepared for when I could get my hands on that stuff.”
Garrett replaces ex-Giants HC/OC Pat Shurmur, who defected to the Denver Broncos, and inherits a sneaky-good cast comprised of Saquon Barkley, Golden Tate, Evan Engram, Sterling Shepard, and Darius Slayton. The 54-year-old hasn’t called plays since 2012, cycling through various coordinators across his decade-long tenure in Dallas.
Nevertheless, new Big Blue coach Joe Judge, a rookie head man whose background is on special teams, has fully entrusted this side of the ball to Garrett. Judge stated Tuesday the offense won’t be a “carryover” but “similarly based” to the Cowboys’ outfit.
An athletic yet limited signal-caller entering his first full season as a starter, Jones is smart to pick the brain of a legendary rival. But he’s sorely mistaken if he expects to suddenly morph into the second coming of a four-time Pro Bowl passer — or, for that matter, vanquish his NFC East nemesis — based solely on a few formal conversations.
As for the Cowboys, this ultimately means very little. Garrett’s system is long gone, eradicated by new HC Mike McCarthy, who will help call plays alongside retained coordinator Kellen Moore. Anything Jones could’ve learned doesn’t apply to Dallas’ 2020 outfit.
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Jones Finds Mentor in Another Ex-Cowboys QB
Romo may be Jones’ sounding board, but the 2019 first-round pick found an ideal understudy in Cooper Rush, whom the Cowboys waived after signing Andy Dalton. Rush was claimed by New York off waivers.
“He’s been great to have in the room,” Jones said, via PFT. “He understands it well. It will help speed up that learning process.”
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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL
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