Tony Romo hands out generic praise easily. Stuff like, he’s doing a good job, they’re working hard, we’re making progress.
But the Cowboys quarterback was more specific Saturday night after the preseason game against the St. Louis Rams when he talked about what he liked from the young receivers who are playing for the Cowboys in place of Miles Austin and Dez Bryant.
“I just think some of the young guys stepped up and made some plays tonight,” he said. “I think we needed that. We need to have some depth at that position. Obviously, without Dez and Miles, you’re never going to get everything the exact way you want. When they come back, that’s going to be an incredible boost for us.
“It’s good to know we have some depth and the guys can do some things.”
Against the Rams, second-year receiver Dwayne Harris caught three passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
Four-year veteran Kevin Ogletree had five catches for 75 yards, giving him nine catches in the past two games.
Undrafted rookie Cole Beasley had three catches for 40 yards, giving him 10 catches for 144 yards in the past two games.
Rookie tight end James Hanna had two catches for 37 yards, and veteran tight end John Phillips had one catch for 10 yards, but Romo looked to him three times (one catch was reversed, another was nullified by a penalty).
“Dwayne did a good job,” Romo said. “It’s never been about the big things. It’s just Dwayne is about the little things. If he can get the little things down, he’s got a chance to really help our football team.”
On Phillips, Romo said, “John’s been watching Jason through all these years. He’s learned a lot. So he gives a nice stable two tight end. He did a good job tonight.”
Romo said playing up is going to help the young receivers, who wouldn’t have gotten that chance without the hamstring injury that has sidelined Austin, the knee tendinitis that has Bryant out and the spleen injury that has Witten idle.
“Sometimes it can help your football team depth-wise for some young guys to get in the first group to play and get a chance to see what it’s like with the talent level and the competition you have to go against. It can be a bonus,” Romo said.
-- Carlos Mendez
Twitter @calexmendez
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