ARLINGTON, Texas — Dwayne Harris caught his first touchdown pass from Tony Romo Saturday night, and then he caught another. The two scoring grabs totaled 99 yards.
While it was a preseason game, the two touchdowns still signify that Romo is gaining trust in the second-year wide receiver out of East Carolina.
For Harris, a player who hasn't caught a pass in an NFL game, he really can't ask for much more.
"[Romo] always tells me, 'Harris, you got great ability, you just got to eliminate the mental mistakes.' And that's what I was trying to do [Saturday night]," Harris said, "eliminate all the mental mistakes and try to cut down on missed assignments and just do my job."
Harris, who was targeted three times, finished with three catches for 118 yards, bringing his three-game 2012 preseason total to eight receptions for 173 yards and three touchdowns. His other score came by way of a 15-yard pass from Rudy Carpenter against the San Diego Chargers.
No disrespect to Carpenter, but being on the same page with Romo is what will get Harris playing time during the regular season. For some of the young receivers, pleasing Romo hasn't always been easy.
Romo has showed signs of frustration with some of the inexperienced receivers and offensive linemen during training camp by spiking the ball after a mistake. But Harris says he understands why.
"Tony's a great quarterback and he wants to win a Super Bowl, like everybody else," Harris said. "He knows his time is winding down. He doesn't know how long he's going to be playing. He's got a great passion for the game. As a quarterback, you want that kind of guy on your team who gets on you when you make mistakes, so you can be better."
Saturday night's 20-19 win over the visiting St. Louis Rams wasn't the first time Harris caught two touchdown passes in a preseason game. Last year in the Cowboys' preseason opener against the Denver Broncos, Harris snagged scoring receptions of 13 yards and 76 yards from Stephen McGee, finishing with five grabs for 127 yards.
"Dwayne did a good job," Romo said Saturday night. "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."
Follow Jon Machota on Twitter: @jonmachota
