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Fraley: Is Jon Kitna ready if Romo gets hurt? He might have sat too long
10:20 AM CDT on Friday, August 20, 2010
Column by GERRY FRALEY / The Dallas Morning News | gfraley@dallasnews.com
Gerry Fraley
Archive | Bio | E-mail
OXNARD, Calif . – Around the NFL, it is "Backup Quarterbacks Festival." For the next two weeks, reserve quarterbacks will appear before returning to the background.
Will Jon Kitna vanish again for the Cowboys?
The odds say no. That makes Kitna's remaining snaps in exhibition play, starting with Saturday night's game at San Diego, so important. The Cowboys need to scrape more than a year of rust from Kitna before the regular season begins on Sept. 12.
"It's been a while since I've been out there with the bullets flying," Kitna said.
The Cowboys' Tony Romo was the only NFL quarterback to take every traditional snap last season. Kitna has not played in a regular-season game since Oct. 5, 2008, while with Detroit.
That amounts to 28 consecutive regular-season games on the sideline for Kitna, making a tough job tougher. Of the 113 quarterbacks currently on training camp rosters, only four have a longer streak of watching. Seattle's Charlie Whitehurst leads at 59 regular-season games without playing.
Kitna has 116 career starts, including one in the playoffs. Through the experience, he knows what to do. He has seen everything defenses have in their bag of tricks. He nonetheless needs to play.
Kitna has had 35 snaps in the first two exhibitions. The Cowboys would be well-served if they could find about 75 snaps for Kitna in the remaining three exhibitions.
The alternative is a quarterback who would have to be dragged out of the mothballs should disaster strike.
"He needs game time, because it's been such a long time," quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson said. "Jon has handled this very well. He has game experience, which is great. He has credibility with the guys, and that's half the battle."
Coach Wade Phillips called Kitna "a gem" who could start elsewhere. Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and Wilson both said they have absolute faith Kitna could handle the job if Romo were unavailable.
"The guy can play," Phillips said.
The Cowboys likely will learn this season at what level Kitna can play at age 37.
Romo turned 30 in April, and he briefly had a creaky throwing shoulder in this camp. To plan on him taking every snap again would be foolish. The New York Giants of 2005-06, with Eli Manning, are the last team to have one quarterback take every snap in two consecutive seasons.
The last time Romo missed time, the Cowboys were undressed. They went 1-2 with fading veteran Brad Johnson as Romo's replacement in 2008. That was the beginning of the end for the club in that season.
The Cowboys believe Kitna is a significant upgrade over Johnson. Trying to stay sharp, Kitna ran the scout team with a fury last season. He does all the prep work, offers the insight of his experience and avoids the biggest trap for a backup: boredom.
Kitna's training camp performance has been a mixed bag. He has the burden of going against the first-team defense with the second-team offense. His most memorable throw of camp sailed behind rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant, leading to Bryant's high ankle sprain.
"He [Kitna] does a phenomenal job of preparing himself," Wilson said. "He's played in a lot of games and won a lot of games. Everyone is confident he could perform if we need him."
There's no better time to prepare for that moment than now.
BATTLE-TESTED BACKUPS
A look at the career regular-season performances of the most experienced backup quarterbacks in the NFL, based upon games started:
Player Team TDs Int. Pct.* W-L**
Mark Brunell NY Jets 182 107 59.5 78-73
Kerry Collins Tennessee 192 187 55.7 79-91
Jon Kitna Cowboys 152 152 59.8 46-69
Marc Bulger Baltimore 122 93 62.1 41-54
Chad Pennington Miami 102 64 66.1 43-37
*Completion percentage
**Career record in games started
• • •
10:20 AM CDT on Friday, August 20, 2010
Column by GERRY FRALEY / The Dallas Morning News | gfraley@dallasnews.com
Gerry Fraley
Archive | Bio | E-mail
OXNARD, Calif . – Around the NFL, it is "Backup Quarterbacks Festival." For the next two weeks, reserve quarterbacks will appear before returning to the background.
Will Jon Kitna vanish again for the Cowboys?
The odds say no. That makes Kitna's remaining snaps in exhibition play, starting with Saturday night's game at San Diego, so important. The Cowboys need to scrape more than a year of rust from Kitna before the regular season begins on Sept. 12.
"It's been a while since I've been out there with the bullets flying," Kitna said.
The Cowboys' Tony Romo was the only NFL quarterback to take every traditional snap last season. Kitna has not played in a regular-season game since Oct. 5, 2008, while with Detroit.
That amounts to 28 consecutive regular-season games on the sideline for Kitna, making a tough job tougher. Of the 113 quarterbacks currently on training camp rosters, only four have a longer streak of watching. Seattle's Charlie Whitehurst leads at 59 regular-season games without playing.
Kitna has 116 career starts, including one in the playoffs. Through the experience, he knows what to do. He has seen everything defenses have in their bag of tricks. He nonetheless needs to play.
Kitna has had 35 snaps in the first two exhibitions. The Cowboys would be well-served if they could find about 75 snaps for Kitna in the remaining three exhibitions.
The alternative is a quarterback who would have to be dragged out of the mothballs should disaster strike.
"He needs game time, because it's been such a long time," quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson said. "Jon has handled this very well. He has game experience, which is great. He has credibility with the guys, and that's half the battle."
Coach Wade Phillips called Kitna "a gem" who could start elsewhere. Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and Wilson both said they have absolute faith Kitna could handle the job if Romo were unavailable.
"The guy can play," Phillips said.
The Cowboys likely will learn this season at what level Kitna can play at age 37.
Romo turned 30 in April, and he briefly had a creaky throwing shoulder in this camp. To plan on him taking every snap again would be foolish. The New York Giants of 2005-06, with Eli Manning, are the last team to have one quarterback take every snap in two consecutive seasons.
The last time Romo missed time, the Cowboys were undressed. They went 1-2 with fading veteran Brad Johnson as Romo's replacement in 2008. That was the beginning of the end for the club in that season.
The Cowboys believe Kitna is a significant upgrade over Johnson. Trying to stay sharp, Kitna ran the scout team with a fury last season. He does all the prep work, offers the insight of his experience and avoids the biggest trap for a backup: boredom.
Kitna's training camp performance has been a mixed bag. He has the burden of going against the first-team defense with the second-team offense. His most memorable throw of camp sailed behind rookie wide receiver Dez Bryant, leading to Bryant's high ankle sprain.
"He [Kitna] does a phenomenal job of preparing himself," Wilson said. "He's played in a lot of games and won a lot of games. Everyone is confident he could perform if we need him."
There's no better time to prepare for that moment than now.
BATTLE-TESTED BACKUPS
A look at the career regular-season performances of the most experienced backup quarterbacks in the NFL, based upon games started:
Player Team TDs Int. Pct.* W-L**
Mark Brunell NY Jets 182 107 59.5 78-73
Kerry Collins Tennessee 192 187 55.7 79-91
Jon Kitna Cowboys 152 152 59.8 46-69
Marc Bulger Baltimore 122 93 62.1 41-54
Chad Pennington Miami 102 64 66.1 43-37
*Completion percentage
**Career record in games started
• • •