Cowboys: Dallas offensive coordinator says 'less is more' with Tony Romo

With Tony Romo coming off a five-interception outing in the Cowboys' loss to the Bears on Oct. 1, the team is streamlining the offense, reasoning that less may be more when it comes to moving the ball against good defenses.

By Nick Eatman

Oct 11, 2012 at 7:01 pm ET • 2 min read

The Cowboys will simplify their offense for Sunday's game against the Ravens in the hope that it will help QB Tony Romo cut down on turnovers. (US Presswire)

Tony Romo is coming off a five-interception game against the Bears on Oct. 1. And while the Cowboys aren’t wavering in their confidence with Romo, they do plan on scaling back some of the offense, at least from a preparation standpoint.

Without trying to give away the plan, offensive coordinator Bill Callahan, who also serves as the offensive line coach, said the quarterback position always requires a lot of pre-snap responsibilities but that simplifying things even more for Romo and the offense could be a plus.

“We’re not taking things away from Tony and what he does best, because he’s got great command of this system,” Callahan said. “He does an outstanding job communicating calls or changing plays. He’s got a real uniqueness that I’ve found watching him play since I’ve been here. But when you try to get everybody together and study everybody and get more consistency and try to get better execution, sometimes the answer is kind of to pull back a little bit. Less is better, in our minds. We’re trying to get to that point.”

After the Bears game, Romo acknowledged he was trying “to do too much” and wanted to focus on correcting his own game and trusting his teammates more.

“It’s really about us executing,” Romo said. “There are some things we need to fix and we’re working on. But we need to be sharp in what we’re doing. If we execute out there, we have a chance to be pretty good.”

Spencer still limited: The Cowboys are preparing to be without linebacker Anthony Spencer for a second straight game. Spencer has a shoulder/pectoral injury that forced him out of the Bears game two Mondays ago. While Victor Butler started in place of Spencer against Chicago, second-year pro Alex Albright has been getting a few snaps in practice this week and could be a better option for the Cowboys on first and second downs. Butler might be used more in nickel situations. There's a chance Spencer could play in a limited role, possibly on passing situations as well.

Punters working out: The Cowboys will look at three veteran punters on Friday when the team holds a workout with about a dozen players at Valley Ranch. Daniel Sepulveda, T.J. Conley and Chas Henry, who was recently cut by the Eagles, will work out Friday. Philly waived Henry to make room for former Cowboys punter Mat McBriar. The Cowboys are still hopeful Chris Jones (knee) will be able to punt this weekend in Baltimore.

No change expected at KR: The Cowboys signed rookie Lance Dunbar from the practice squad this week and the former North Texas running back said he expects to get a shot at returning kickoffs, but Felix Jones is slated to remain as the primary returner. Dunbar will be active this week and play on most special-teams units, possibly even kick-return as the off-returner. Jones ranks 23^rd in the NFL with a 21.45 yard average with a long of just 29.

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