With Tony Romo getting closer to a return, the Cowboys are in a situation reminiscent of the 2001 Patriots.
Romo has began throwing the football this week as he looks to come back from a back injury, but rookie Dak Prescott has led the team to a 5-1 record. The Patriots were 5-3 in games started by Tom Brady by the time Drew Bledsoe was ready to return from his Week 2 injury.
Patriots Hall of Famer Troy Brown discussed the dynamic of the ’01 Pats on Sunday’s Pregame Live, saying that when Bledsoe was ready to return from his sheared blood vessel for Week 11, some players hoped that he would regain his starting job over Tom Brady simply because they didn’t want an injury to cost a player his job.
“At that time, it was kind of unprecedented to have a guy lose his job because of injury, so guys I think wanted Drew to come back,” Brown said.
Added Brown: “That was kind of the thing. You don’t lose your job because of injury, but we were winning games, so I think the guys were OK with [Brady keeping the job]. I was OK with it because we were winning.”
Asked by Mike Felger whether players openly campaigned for Bledsoe to play over Brady, Brown said no.
“Not at all, because Drew handled it in such a classy way,” Brown said. “He wasn’t making a big fuss about it or a big stink about it. He had his words with Bill behind closed doors and we never saw or heard any of that stuff.”