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Cowboys' future unclear despite team's confidence in Jason Garrett

By David Moore

The Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas - Four X-rays were taken moments after Troy Aikman fractured his left collarbone.

The quality of each was cloudy. The Cowboys had the shoulder X-rayed again Monday to be sure of where they stood.

The prognosis remained the same. Aikman will miss four to eight weeks as the bone heals.

"We just wanted to get a clear picture," said Jim Maurer, the team's head trainer.

Those X-rays are more conclusive than the future that awaits the team in Aikman's absence.

The pressure falls squarely on the shoulder pads of Jason Garrett. Can the sixth-year pro from Princeton keep the Cowboys afloat in a division that counts Bobby Hoying, Trent Green and Danny Kanell among his peers? Can he bottle the Thanksgiving Day magic he displayed in leading Dallas to a victory over Green Bay nearly four years ago and sustain it over an extended period? How will the Cowboys' offense differ?

No one expects Garrett to fill Aikman's cleats. But coach Chan Gailey stressed Monday he has been on teams that have won with backup quarterbacks in Denver and Pittsburgh and expects that to happen here. Center Clay Shiver said the players can't take the attitude that they will just wait around until Aikman returns.

The Cowboys can't afford to slip too far below .500 and be a serious playoff threat. When the ball is put back in Aikman's hands, Dallas needs to be in a position to make a run.

"It's very critical," receiver Michael Irvin said. "There's no way getting around it. We've got to hold it together until he gets back."

Gailey applauds Garrett's knowledge of the system. He said he will not scale down the game plan to make it less intimidating and doesn't foresee the need to spend any extra time in preparation with Garrett.

The difference, however, is obvious.

"He's not Troy Aikman," Gailey said. "But there are about 99,000 guys out there who aren't Troy Aikman.

"He's not as big or as strong-armed or experienced. We've got all those problems. But every team in the league, a guy is a second-team quarterback for a reason. He's not as good as the first team. We're in the same category."

Garrett lacks Aikman's strong arm. If the question is whether or not Garrett can throw the 18-yard out pattern with the same authority as Aikman, Irvin said the answer is no.

But Irvin quickly added that Garrett can make that throw and has done it in games. While that may effect how often Gailey calls that play in a game, it doesn't mean it's out of the playbook.

"I don't see the plays changing much," fullback Daryl Johnston said. "We don't have anything he can't throw."

Garrett's read:

"Troy can do a lot of things," he said. "I can't get caught up in trying to do the things he does."

Defenses will also take notice. It stands to reason that teams will now focus on stopping Emmitt Smith and the running game and try to rattle Garrett on obvious passing downs. The New York Giants will get first crack at Garrett on Monday night and could set the defensive tone for what the Cowboys see over the next few weeks.

"I think if I were sitting on the other side of the ball I would say, 'Hey, they're going to run the football more and not pass it as much,' " Gailey said. "I'd say, let them think whatever they want to think."

The Packers were probably thinking the same thing when Garrett made the second of his two career starts against them in '94. Garrett completed 15-of-26 passes for 311 yards and two touchdowns. He engineered touchdown drives on five consecutive possessions - Denver's John Elway isn't the only quarterback who can make that claim - in the second half to lead the Cowboys to a 42-31 come-from-behind victory.

Gailey said the film of that game played a major role in his decision to appoint Garrett as the team's No. 2 quarterback entering the season. It was strengthened by listening to Irvin and others talk about the confidence they have in Garrett.

"What I know is he took his team to victory," Gailey said. "You can say what you want about quarterbacks, but that's the bottom line. Did you take your team to victory?"

Garrett has fond memories of that game, but pointed out it happened long ago and, "I've certainly turned the page on that." A new and more significant chapter awaits.

"Right now," Shiver said, "Jason is the man."

For better or worse.

(c) 1998, The Dallas Morning News.

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