OXNARD, Calif. -- The Dallas Cowboys are being suspiciously coy in their discussions about the weight of quarterback Tony Romo. Romo came into training camp over the weekend listed at 236 pounds, six pounds heavier than his official weight from a year ago and 17 pounds heavier than the 219 he was listed at earlier in his career.
"I don't want to get into the details of what his playing weight is supposed to be, but he's right around it," coach Jason Garrett said. "He's actually a pound over his prescribed playing weight right now, so he got his weight down.''
Wait … what?
The Cowboys don't want to discuss it. But Romo is a pound over … but he's got his weight down?
"I've got my weight where I've been to each year coming into camp," Romo said following Sunday's workout. "I feel good about that. You just keep carrying it over, though. You're always looking to be in great shape."
This isn't necessarily a problem; a football player can lose a few pounds over the course of a single practice. In fact, Romo said his actual weight now is closer to just under 230 "depending on which day you catch me.''
But Garrett and team owner Jerry Jones have both in recent days made a point of mentioning in a positive way Romo's conditioning following offseason surgery on his back that limited his usual activity. Jones previewed the team's training camp this weekend by saying Romo arrived early in California and was "uniquely running mountains."
Added Garrett after the Sunday morning walkthrough: "He'll tell you right now he just has to continue do the conditioning stuff necessary. When you're coming off an injury, that's always a big concern. You're trying to get the injury healed, but you've got make sure the conditioning is right. He's worked very hard at it. He'll continue to do that throughout camp."
Romo was sharp Sunday while wearing shells under his practice jersey in order to get used to a closer-to-real-football feel.
"Football is a unique sport in that it's one of the few where you really can't practice on your own," Romo said. "In basketball, you can go to the open gym and play five-on-five. You can go play golf, you can go play tennis, you can go do a lot of stuff, but you're not going to go get 22 (football players) and have it scripted out here doing that. … What you can control is the speed and tempo you're going to go at … I'm still making my moves, making my body work faster than you want to because you have to get rushed.''
So Romo is making his body work. Whether his body is a pound over … or he's got his weight down … or it depends on which day you catch him.
