Cowboys’ Jason Garrett doesn’t buy Tony Romo rust factor

The Dallas Cowboys 2014 season got off to a rough start with a disappointing loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The biggest issues for the Cowboys were the turnovers that plagued the team in the first half, notably Tony Romo’s interceptions.

Part of that could be attributed to rust for the veteran passer, who came off back surgery in the offseason for a second year in a row and was handled gingerly during the preseason.

Head coach Jason Garrett isn’t buying it though.

“I think if you look at his body of work in the preseason — you guys can go back and count up the plays he played last year in the preseason relative to the plays he played this year — I bet it’s pretty similar,” Garrett said, via ESPN Dallas.

ESPN Dallas went on to compare his preseason snaps this season to those other years under Garrett, and it is lower, but not necessarily by much. Romo played 60 snaps in 2011, 55 in 2012 and 69 in 2013 when they played 5 preseason games.

Certainly can’t put all the blame on preseason snaps. Garrett did admit that Romo wasn’t the sharpest he had ever been but expressed confidence that he’ll get it turned around.