The S-T has a nice article on Romo. Nice to get a little less shrill take on where he is this year.

They provide two parts I thought were unique.

First, they talk to his center. Maybe not a bad source. I mean Tony gets kinda intimate with the guy 100 or so times a week...

Romo's teammates see a different person than they did in December or January. He's a player who realizes how much rides on his development, including a possible lottery-type contract extension.

"That Seattle game affected him. It stayed on his mind, as well as everybody's mind," Gurode said. "Even from that game his focus has been, I don't want to say desperate, but there is urgency. It's, 'We need to get this right, and we need to get this right, right now.'"

We all read a variety of opinions on his pre-season performance, but I think this might be the most accurate take:

Improving to 2-0 in the preseason with Saturday night's 31-20 win over the Broncos, Romo is completing 72.4 percent of his passes with no touchdowns and one interception. He has been efficient, not spectacular or flashy.

And unlike last season when Romo appeared too excitable at times -- think Joey Harrington or Rex Grossman -- he's calmed a bit.

In particular, this one struck me as interesting. First because assistant coaches have regained their power of speech and second, because they're talking to the QB coach about the QB. What a novel idea.

When he faced New Orleans in December, it was clear the league had figured him out. The Saints made him stand in the pocket, and he wasn't as effective in a 42-17 loss.

"He enjoys freelancing and throwing on the move, but I think he has the ability to stand in the pocket and make all the throws," Cowboys quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson said.

The Cowboys want him to keep the mobility and freelance aspect of his game. They like that he moves up into the pocket and doesn't continually retreat. But there is a catch.

"Watching him on tape last year, he improvised when he had protection; we want him to improvise when protection breaks down," Wilson said. "The only way he can actually learn that is by playing."

I think that is exactly what we've been seeing. A guy taking a little of frantic excitability out of his game and working on some of the real subtleties of the position.