Romo says his focus is on Giants, not Jessica

BY ERIK BOLAND | erik.boland@newsday.com

January 10, 2008

IRVING, Texas - Tony Romo is the quarterback of a franchise that hasn't won a playoff game in 11 seasons and plays a division rival for the third time Sunday for the chance to go to the NFC Championship Game.

Conservatively, he might have been asked three questions yesterday specifically about the Giants.

This city has been atwitter for several days about Romo's weekend trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, with teammate Jason Witten and, of course, Jessica Simpson (Simpson's parents, and others, were there, too).

Romo, speaking with the media for the first time since returning, said the excursion did not interfere with his focus for the divisional playoff game against the Giants.

The Cowboys struggled, especially on offense, in losing two of their last three games, a slide that started with a 10-6 home loss Dec. 16 to the Eagles. Simpson, wearing a pink No. 9 jersey, was spotted by cameras during that game, one in which Romo threw three interceptions.

Suddenly, Romo had morphed into the "celebrity quarterback" former coach Bill Parcells had warned him about becoming, and last weekend's mini-vacation only served to ignite that topic. A season in which Romo set Dallas records for passing yardage (4,211), touchdown passes (36), completions (335), 300-yard games (seven) and completion percentage (64.4) took a back seat to his bye-week travel. It put him in the position of defending his game preparation, despite a 13-3 record and home-field advantage in the NFC.

"I know what I need to do to be successful," Romo said. "There's always people asking for tickets, media requests, all these things ... I was able to put the phone aside, just get myself ready and watch some football for two straight days. It was really fun."

Losing to the Giants would make Cowboy Nation miserable. Dallas has not won in the postseason since a 1996 wild-card game against the Vikings, and fans and media here want football on the mind of their quarterback 24/7.

"If I don't perform well," Romo said, "it doesn't have anything to do with anything other than the Giants played a great football game."

Romo and the Cowboys' offense have played two of them against the Giants this season. Dallas beat the Giants, 45-35, in the season opener and 31-20 Nov. 11 at the Meadowlands. Romo threw for 592 yards and eight touchdowns in the two games and connected on 10 passes of 20 yards or more.

"More than anything, they're an aggressive team by nature," said Romo, explaining the Cowboys' ability to convert big plays against the Giants. "They want to get after the quarterback, they want to get to the quarterback. Once they get there, they're going to be successful. If they don't, that puts pressure on the other people. Once in a while, that'll give you a chance for a big play."

And once in a while yesterday, Romo got a question about football.

Notes & quotes: WR Terrell Owens, who suffered a high left ankle sprain in the Dec. 22 victory at Carolina, missed the team's morning walkthrough yesterday and was not on the field - even on the sidelines - for the afternoon practice. Coach Wade Phillips could be engaging in some gamesmanship, though he sounded decidedly pessimistic regarding Owens' status for Sunday. "That's an injury that takes six to eight weeks to come back from," Phillips said. "We're trying to bring him back in three." ... Phillips was more optimistic about WR Terry Glenn, who spent most of the season recovering from knee surgery and did not play until seeing limited time in the final game at Washington. "He did quite a few plays and ran quite a few routes," Phillips said. "I'm somewhat encouraged there."

SUNDAY

GIANTS AT COWBOYS

4:30 p.m. TV: Ch. 5

Radio: WFAN (660)

Latest line:

Cowboys by 7 1/2

E-mail

Reprint

Related links

Giants schedule

PHOTOS: GIANTS WIN SUPER BOWL

WTKR News

Popular stories

Hampton Roads Facts, Data and Statistics

Blogs