This isn't hard, Jerry Jones. Not really. Tony Romo's time as the face of the franchise and the guiding light for the Dallas Cowboys has drawn to a close.
It's the Dak Show now.
The transfer of power has already happened.
Not that Jones, the owner and general manager of the Cowboys, has been able to give up the Romo ghost easily. What did Jones do after Dak Prescott, the fourth-round rookie quarterback out of Mississippi State, led his guys to yet another win? Jerry announced this team still belonged to Tony Romo.
"I will tell you this is a wonderful position if you're in my shoes," Jones told reporters before offering up this silliness: "Tony is our No. 1 quarterback."
No, Jerry. No he's not. Not anymore.
Change is hard, loyalty is commendable and sports are vicious in how quickly windows can close, and the way in which they can do so. But that mantra about not being able to lose your job to injury? It's wrong, it's simple-minded and it doesn't apply here. The truth is, it's not about losing a starting gig to injury. It's about losing it to time. In football, when your time comes for you, all you've accomplished before is just a memory of what used to be.
Time has come for Romo, and it did so just when Dak was ready to make his mark.
I like Tony Romo. I think he's gotten a raw deal -- an unfair share of the blame and ridicule for a career and a team that has not had postseason success. It's certainly brutal if this is how Romo's career, at least his career as a starter and a relevant force in the NFL, comes to an end. But that's football. That's life.
Tony Romo is a broken-down, physically unreliable 36-year-old quarterback with a history of back issues who's been out this season. He's the past.
Dak Prescott is a 23-year-old quarterback who can also run, a rookie with 155 pass attempts without an interception -- now closing in on Tom Brady's record of 162 to start a career -- a guy who commands the huddle and has already won over a large share of his locker room. But the numbers that matter most are four and one. As in: The Cowboys are 4-1 under Dak. That's the end of the argument. Dak's not just the future. He's the present, too.
Jones seemed to start to understand this, sort of, when a few days later he somewhat reversed himself.
Speaking on CBS Sports Radio's affiliate 105.3 the Fan in Dallas on Tuesday, Jones said the team is going "to play this thing out" when it comes to the "great situation" at quarterback.
Well, if by "play this thing out" you mean addressing a quarterback controversy weeks before Romo can even return to play -- the earliest is Oct. 30 against the Eagles -- and by "great situation" you mean "bring up early a possibly divisive locker room situation," yep, the league's most controlling owner is certainly right.
Look, there will be no avoiding the risks and tough decisions that come with choosing between Dak and Romo if that time comes. And it will, regardless of what happens at Lambeau Field this weekend. Which, Dak being Dak, might be another win for the Cowboys.
Yes, the Packers have a surprisingly good defense this season, particularly against the rush. And if they can neutralize Ezekiel Elliott, that fierce Cowboys offensive line and even Dak's ability to scamper to safety when need be, they can put a lot of pressure on the rookie phenom.
But, while many think this is the week Dak reverts to rookie form, I'm not so sure. He's been poised all season long. Stepping in for Romo, and wearing that star, is no small burden. He's shown he's a winner. He's closing in on that Brady record, one that means so much because protecting the ball over a long period of time is crucial at that position, one that's particularly impressive for a player so young. His quarterback rating this year is 90.51, but it's been over 100 in each of the last four games. On top of his four passing touchdowns, he has three on the ground.
He's the real deal.
Jerry Jones should stop talking about quarterback controversies, should stop saying it's this guy's job or that guy's job, and should stop saying it's all going to play out.
Jerry should have just let it play out. He should have announced the inevitable -- this is Dak's team -- only when he had to do so.
Dak's already earned this job.
But since Jerry Jones can't help being Jerry Jones, and since he's already opened that Pandora's box, here's what needs to happen next:
If on Sunday Dak Prescott leads the Cowboys to a 5-1 record by winning in the hostile home of the Green Bay Packers, the next words from the Cowboys' owner should be these:
"This is officially Dak's team now."
