Romo's pledge: Cowboys will 'have a good offense, period'

OXNARD, Calif. -- Tony Romo is over his flu bug, but his right tackle just had knee surgery. He's getting better throwing to Roy Williams, but he's still waiting to get his timing down with injured rookie Dez Bryant. He has moved the ball on every drive he has had this preseason, but he hasn't produced a touchdown, and neither has anyone else on the Dallas Cowboys.

For everything that has gone right so far during training camp, something has gone wrong. Romo believes the Cowboys are just working out the kinks. He's so sure of it, he said Tuesday: "I think we're going to have a pretty good red-zone offense this year. I think we're going to have a good offense, period. It's going to be fun." He should be optimistic. He helped shape the plan. During the offseason, Romo and Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett reviewed what worked and what didn't last season, then discussed why. That led to some tweaks of the playbook to make sure they're emphasizing their strengths. "I think that's a big part of it, learning what we both like, what we think can be more successful, what we can change, what we need to do better, what I need to be better at," Romo said. "That's how you become a better player and a better offense. I think we're doing that." It helps that they're familiar with what everyone can do. Dallas has only one new starter on offense, left tackle Doug Free, and he started seven games at right tackle last season. Although right tackle Marc Colombo had an arthroscopic procedure Monday, he's expected back for the season opener next month. "You get better command of the offense every year that goes by," said Romo, who's entering his fourth full season as a starter -- and his fourth working with Garrett. "Me and Jason, you grow together in the system. That's a good thing. I'm lucky to have somebody there for an extended period of time like that." The Cowboys gained a club-record 6,390 yards last season on their way to an 11-5 record to win the NFC East. But they scored one point fewer than the previous season, when they were 9-7 and missed the playoffs. Dallas just had too many problems scoring inside the 20-yard line. "When you look at it, everything we did last year, there's a lot of correctable things out there," Romo said. "It's not that we need to go out and find someone who is a better football player. Sometimes that's part of it, but we don't have that problem." Fans are grumbling because the same thing has crept up this preseason. The Cowboys already have tried seven field goals in two games. Romo notes they haven't had any three-and-outs. "So we're doing some good things," he said. "But scoring touchdowns obviously helps a lot and matters. From a confidence standpoint, there's no question we need to get in the end zone. And we will." Garrett was so upset with the offense Sunday that he made them go through an extra round of practice after their second session. They've been crisp in the two workouts since, including Tuesday's practice in pads. Part of the problem Sunday might have been Romo playing with illness. "You need these days," he said. "So you come out here and fight through it a little bit, and you'll be fine." Williams has been here 1� seasons without developing a strong on-field relationship with his quarterback. It's a touchy subject because of how much money Williams makes and how much the Cowboys gave up to get him from the Detroit Lions. If Williams doesn't have big numbers, he probably won't be back next season. The clock already might be ticking because there are high hopes for Bryant, who's eager to return from a high ankle sprain but is being stalled by management concerned about the risk of a setback. Talk of Bryant playing two preseason games has tilted toward the caution of keeping him out until the opener. Whenever he's back, Romo will be ready to continue breaking in Bryant. "He's got good instincts," Romo said of the rookie. "He's got a natural way about running the routes and being in position. He's still got some stuff to learn that we've got to get through, but he's coming along. ... He had a lot of time, he had a lot of work in, and he corrected a lot of mistakes pretty quickly there. But there are still things we're going to continue to work on." Romo came off the practice field having heard the news of Brett Favre's likely return to the Minnesota Vikings. Romo jokingly said he was taking back all the nice things he said a few weeks ago when Favre was thought not to be returning. "He's terrible. I can't believe he's still playing. He's got no ability left," Romo said, laughing. "No, he's a great player. It's going to be fun to play those guys this year." Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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