IRVING, Tex. -- The Dallas Cowboys drafting of Ezekiel Elliott brings optimism. The return of Dez Bryant is full of excitement. But the Cowboys' biggest move of the off-season?
Quarterback Tony Romo and his return to health.
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IRVING, Tex. -- The Dallas Cowboys drafting of Ezekiel Elliott brings optimism. The return of Dez Bryant is full of excitement. But the Cowboys' biggest move of the off-season? Quarterback Tony Romo and his return to health.
The biggest difference between 12-4 in 2014 and 4-12 in 2015 was the absence of Romo, who missed 12 games after twice fracturing his left collarbone.
The Cowboys were 3-1 with Romo in the lineup and 1-11 without him. Roughly two months after undergoing the Mumford procedure in hopes of preventing further injury to his left clavicle, Romo is a full participant in the offseason program and a welcomed sight at OTA practices.
"Yeah. Certainly he is a big part of what we do," offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. "He is a big factor in what we do. Him being out there is great not only for our team, but his leadership role he has for the younger quarterbacks, for any of the guys that he's been around, it's an example of how we do things, especially our offensive system."
It's not just Romo's ability on the field, but his leadership that strikes a chord with the Cowboys.
"That means a lot. It just builds the chemistry," Bryant said. "It's not even on the field. Just off the field in his body demeanor, his actions, his interactions with everybody. It's been great. Everybody can see the spirit. It's high. We love it. When you see your main guy like that it makes you just want to be that much better."
Romo said his twice fractured clavicle is fine.
And so is his back that underwent offseason surgeries following the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
Romo says he doing things now that he hasn't done in several seasons.
Now, two years moved from surgery to repair a herniated disk in his back, Romo said he can do things for longer periods of time, take less breaks in between and have a bigger workload.
"I do think that based on what my situation has been like the last three or four years, I do think that this is drastically different," Romo said. "It started to show signs last offseason and this one is different, it takes me back five years ago when I was able to do things this way. I'm not there yet. I still have these months that after I just have to get after it, but it's exciting to be able to actually get after it a little bit. If everything keeps going the way it's going, I think it's going to be exciting going into camp."
The presence of a Romo that is a full participant in the offseason program who is doing more things than in past years is not lost on head coach Jason Garrett.
"I do think, ironically enough, he's healthier than he's been. He's been able to go through more of the offseason program, lay the foundation for himself," Garrett said. "I think his back feels better. I think he's come back from the surgery on his collarbone seemingly without any problems. So he's been able to function leading up to the OTAs and I think he's been good the first couple of days."
Romo feels so good that he agrees with owner Jerry Jones that he can play four or five more years.
"Yeah, I think absolutely," Romo said. "With the way that it's going right now the running joke is that I'm the only one in here getting younger each year, so we'll see if that continues."
--Wide receiver Dez Bryant is healthy again even though the Cowboys are being cautious with him after he missed seven games in 2015 with a fractured foot.
He plans to turn back the clock to his dominant 2014 season when he was a consensus All-Pro.
"Man, I'm not even trying to (get back) to 2014. I'm past that," Bryant said. "I'm going to be better than that. I'm going to. The way we've been working, the way the coaches have been on us, the way we've been holding each other accountable, I think that alone is going to make us all be better than what we were in these past years."
Bryant is being held out of contact work through the offseason and OTAs.
Bryant will undergo another X-ray to make sure the bone is fully healed.
"Have to go in and get another X-ray, see how it looks," Bryant said. "I feel fine. I've been working out real good. I'm getting back to my old self. I feel like I am on track. I'm excited. I'm just ready for these results next week."
--Defensive end Randy Gregory is taking first-team reps with the Cowboys in OTAs, but he will be miss the first four games of the season because of an NFL suspension for repeated violations of the substance policy.
The Cowboys are hoping he has learned his lesson and matured in his second year with the team. Gregory was drafted in the second round last year with the baggage of a failed drug test at the Combine.
He promised that he had learned his lesson, but subsequently failed more tests as a rookie.
Head coach Jason Garrett said Gregory remains a work in progress, but he is seeing signs of maturity.
"With any player, it's their job to prove to you on a daily basis that you can count on them," Garrett said. "That's for the players who have been here for a long time, and that's for the players who just got here. It's their job every day to come to work, be prepared, be ready to go, be mentally and physically and emotionally ready to be their best. And if you do that, day in and day out, you prove to your teammates and to your coaches that we can depend on you. So, Randy is going through that process, but we have some 80 guys on the team that are doing the same thing."
Garrett said Gregory knows the team is disappointed and they expect him to be better on and off the field this year.
"Certainly it's very disappointing. There's no question about that," Garrett said. "We made that abundantly clear with him and he understands that more than anybody. But at some point you have to say OK this is what happened. This is what the consequences are for that action and now we're going to get to work. 'I've got to make sure it doesn't happen again and I've got to get to work as a football player to become a better player with the opportunities I do have.' That's what our emphasis is with him and really with the rest of the guys."