IRVING, Texas – Dez Bryant doesn’t want to hear any debate about whether the Dallas Cowboys can trust Tony Romo after the franchise quarterback’s latest clutch crisis.
“That’s our guy,” Bryant said. “We all love him. Things happen. Unfortunate things happen. Those things can be fixed. That’s by staying together.
“If you make a guy feel like you’ve got trust in him, you believe in him and you’re behind him, it makes you go extra hard, just like me. If I’m down and I know I’ve got somebody behind me, keeping me up, you’re going to make me work harder than I worked before. We’re all behind him.”
Bryant’s admittedly biased opinion is that Romo ranks among the elite quarterbacks in the NFL. That hasn’t influenced Romo’s penchant for throwing ill-timed, costly picks, including two in Dallas' final two drives during Sunday's meltdown against Green Bay.
Since Romo became a starter in 2006, he has thrown seven interceptions while leading by seven points or fewer in the fourth quarter or overtime of an eventual loss, the most by an NFL quarterback in that time frame, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
What does Bryant base his faith in Romo on?
“He wants to win,” Bryant said. “It’d be different if he didn’t want to win. Everybody would be just lollygagging and going on about their business. But it’s different.
“He wants to win, and we’re going to stay behind him. That’s what we’re going to do. That’s what we want to do. And we believe. We’re just going to continue to keep believing. That’s all we can do.”
Romo has risen to clutch occasions in several instances, too. He has engineered 11 game-winning drives in the last two seasons, which also leads the league.
"I don’t think anybody ever would lose confidence in him," tight end Jason Witten said. "Everything we are and we have accomplished over the last few years that you believe in and you hold onto is because of him and what he creates week in and week out and day in and day out. I don’t think you look at a couple of plays and determine… I think that’d be foolish for anybody to do that.
"Having said that, just like all elite quarterbacks, until you overcome it and prove it, you’re going to deal with that. It wasn’t too long that it wasn’t one of the best ever, the guy up in Denver, who had to deal with that as well. I think that’s part of playing the position. That doesn’t minimize his decision-making and all that. Obviously he’s a great player and that’s what makes him great. You don’t lose confidence in a guy like that. He does too much for your football team."