Mickey Spags pens a fine piece on reciever's coach and passing game coordiantor, Todd Haley. Haley, as you may recall, was the guy Parcells hit on the sideline last year against the Seattle Seahawks as both were arguing with the referee. For me, that was a classic unintentional comedy moment from last season, ranking right up there with Larry Allen almost ripping off Jose Cortez's head. One second Parcells is giving the ref an earful, the next he turns and pops his assistant coach. Comedy gold.
Haley has a reputation for being "ornery" - that word is just funny in itself - but Parcells likes Haley, and has worked with him for years. This should be interesting, the dynamic between a straight-talking position coach and his mouthy charge, Terrell Owens. I can see another unintentional comedy moment coming on the sidelines between those two this year. Maybe buying Haley the book How to Win Friends and Influence People is not such a joke after all.
JJT chimes in on the Romo situation with a short article (sub. req.) on Tony Romo. JJT proclaims Romo as the definitive #2 QB on the roster but says he needs to show Parcells in the preseason that he's capable of stepping in for Bledsoe if he goes down. Thank goodness Bledsoe is one tough S.O.B. who rarely misses games because of injury. Maybe that's because the one time he did get injured he got "Wally Pipped" by Tom Brady.
Back to Romo, JJT's argument is that Romo needs to show Parcells he's ready or the Cowboys might have to go out and get a veteran QB - which would be bad news for Henson. Sorry, but I don't buy it. I've written more than a few times that I'm not sure that Romo is capable as a starter in the NFL, but Parcells seems to think so and that's all that matters. I also think that Jerry Jones is not ready to give up on Henson, so Parcells would have a very hard time convincing Jones to release Henson to bring in a vet QB for a year or so, until Parcells retires.
Despite all the talk, I'm 99% sure that the QB depth chart will look exactly the same as it did last year - Bledsoe, Romo, Henson. Here's the core of JJT's case about Romo proving himself in preseason games this year:
An NFC contender such as Dallas must have a backup quarterback capable of winning a game. Drew Bledsoe is one of the NFL's most durable quarterbacks, but quarterbacks have a high injury rate.
Dallas needs someone who can save the season if Bledsoe gets hurt. Romo gets a chance to prove his point this summer.