Aikman 'concerned' about Romo rebounding from back surgery

Tony Romo is entering his 12th NFL season. (USATSI) More NFL offseason: Mock Drafts | Prospect Rankings | Pro days | Top free agents

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo may be ahead of schedule for returning to the field after December back surgery, according to owner and general manager Jerry Jones, but at 34, the 11-year vet has a lot of mileage. And this is troubling to another former Cowboys quarterback, Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, who retired at 34.

'I came back in a relatively short period of time because of when I had my surgery, so he's at least afforded more time to get ready,' Aikman said Wednesday, according to the team's website. 'But having said that, two back surgeries in less than a year at his age, I would be a bit concerned.

'I'm hopeful that he's able to come back -- everybody is. This team won't be the same if he's not able to. I anticipate that he will come back. But to say that, 'Hey, he's ahead of schedule and everything's going fine,' I'm not sure how you can really measure that here in April.'

That's a fair point, especially when Romo hadn't yet begun throwing passes when Jones said several weeks ago that the quarterback was 'ahead of expectations.'

Both Romo and Jones have faced criticism in recent years; the former for ill-timed turnovers and not winning in the postseason, the latter for just about everything else, including signing Romo to a $108-million contract extension last offseason.

But Jones, who has made it clear that he will not relinquish his GM duties, doesn't think the Cowboys are in rebuilding mode because they have their franchise quarterback.

'You don't rebuild with Romo,' he said late last month. 'The firepower we have on offense and where we are with our running backs, and our receivers -- you don't rebuild with an offense that's got the capability we've got. We didn't bring [Scott] Linehan in here to rebuild.'

It's also why Aikman doesn't think the Cowboys will draft a quarterback next month.

'Didn't sound like it,' Aikman said. 'I think Brandon Weeden obviously has some talent, and Kyle Orton, I'm assuming he's back. I've always been a big Kyle Orton fan. I think he's fully capable, and I think he proved that in the last game of the season. It doesn't sound like they'll be drafting anybody. But if they can find a free agent to come out and at some point down the road play like Tony has played, that's a pretty good way to go.'

It's not often that you stumble upon a free agent that can become a quality starter for the next decade. Also not helping: when your owner doubles as general manager and admits that he's previoulsy paid some players he probably shouldn't have.

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