Ranch Roundup: Jerry Jones admits he's 'tried to get cute' finding QBs; Stephen Jones: Internally, Greg Hardy hasn't been an issue

IRVING -- Since everything that happens at Valley Ranch doesn't always make it in the paper or on the blog, this is a way to include a few more interesting conversations and notable comments.

Here are 10 Cowboys nuggets from the past week.

1.) Tony Romo was officially added to the team's active roster on Saturday. The Cowboys QB practiced Thursday and Friday and is expected to start Sunday in Miami. How has Romo looked in practice?

"Looks like the guy we remember," offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said Thursday. "He's been staying in really good shape and making sure there's not anything that's bothering him as far as throwing the football. The great thing is that it's the other shoulder so there is really not any impingement or anything like that. To see him out there throwing and cutting the ball loose and looking like his old self, that's good to see."

2.) Romo's return should benefit the Cowboys in several ways. Not only are they getting his exceptional physical ability and knowledge of the game but they're also getting back one of the team's leaders.

Earlier this week, head coach Jason Garrett had an interesting way of describing the leadership Romo provides.

"I think if you went to Burlington, Wisconsin, when he was eight years old on the playground, everybody would have gravitated towards Tony Romo," Garrett said. "He just has that kind of way about him. Certainly really good players have an advantage that way. I think they're naturally good leaders because of the success they have doing what they do, but I also think with a guy like Tony at the position he plays, he just has a spirit.

"He has something that people are drawn to and people follow. That's been the case since I've been around him. It's certainly grown in a lot of different ways. As you develop in the role that you're in, being a starting quarterback in the NFL, I think there are a lot of different manifestations of that both on the field and off the field, but there's no question he has that natural leadership quality that everybody gravitates towards."

3.) Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones admitted Friday that in the past he has "tried to get cute" finding a starting quarterback. He then specially mentioned drafting Quincy Carter late in the second round in 2001 rather than trying to get a QB in the first round.

So does Jones plan on getting cute when it comes to finding the franchise's next starting quarterback?

"I got real smart when I bought the Cowboys, the day I bought the Cowboys, Troy Aikman was sitting there with the No. 1 pick in the draft," Jones said on 105.3 The Fan's G-Bag Nation show [KRLD-FM]. "And Coach Landry had made it possible to -- and I'm saying this in a positive way -- but it made it possible for us to have the No. 1 pick. If you want to get into pro football right, come in and have Troy Aikman sitting there at the top and you with the No. 1 pick. That'll start you on a nice little career right there.

"My point is I'd like to get cute like that. But, no, I don't want to pay the price of getting a backup there in that one-hole. But obviously you sometimes might not have total control over where you're going to end up there. Again, I'd like to think that you got some options, but I will say my experience has been frustrating relative to really planning and then executing a plan to get a franchise quarterback. I've been very frustrated.

"And by the way, I haven't seen very few others do it, either. I saw Bill Walsh go out and get Steve Young to backup Joe Montana. And Steve stayed behind Joe Montana two or three years out there. You look back on it, that was pretty good thinking. I don't know what thought went into backing [Drew] Bledsoe up with [Tom] Brady when that happened up there since they picked Brady in the sixth. But give [Bill Belichick] credit. He's always picking a quarterback down there in some of those lower rounds. And I bet one of the reasons he's always doing it is because of what he had happened with Brady.

"Now, maybe if we would just all the time get a free agent, which we do, then maybe another Romo would pop up. I say that tongue in cheek. We plan to get a future quarterback."

4.) Although Greg Hardy has recently avoided all media interviews, that hasn't prevented the controversial pass rusher from remaining a popular topic. Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones was recently asked about Hardy possibly being a distraction in the locker room.

"I don't think internally that Greg's an issue," Jones said on SiriusXM NFL Radio's Movin' the Chains show. "Obviously there are things he has to do better, and he's got to progress in a way that he's got to be better for us. As far as his effort out on the field, day-to-day, and what he's doing to try to make himself better, that kind of effort is there. Of course, if it wasn't, it would be unacceptable. But we're lucky, we have great leadership on this football team."

5.) Speaking of Hardy, the Pro Bowl defensive end seems to enjoy pre-practice stretching as much as any player I've seen. If the right song is playing, Hardy will usually bust out a few dance moves. Here's an example from Thursday:

6.) First-round pick Byron Jones is expected to get his first start of the year at outside cornerback on Sunday. Jones, who had recently found a home at free safety, is moving to corner with Morris Claiborne nursing hamstring and ankle injuries. Needless to say, the Cowboys have been very pleased with Jones' versatility.

During the first three weeks, the rookie defensive back was averaging 22.6 defensive snaps per game. Over the last three weeks, that average has climbed to 68.3.

"The game is not even close to being too big for him," Stephen Jones said Friday on 105.3 The Fan's Ben and Skin show [KRLD-FM]. "I think he can almost play any position in the defensive backfield. He just steps up and does it like he's been doing it for years.

"He's just been such a great pick for us. He's been the steadiest guy back there."

7.) Tight end Gavin Escobar was only targeted four times during the previous seven games without Tony Romo under center. Escobar caught one pass for 22 yards. Jason Garrett was asked this week if the former second-round pick has regressed.

"No. I think he's getting better," Garrett said. "We have a lot of different weapons. Obviously, we want to run the football. That's one of the things we think is important for our football team. So Darren McFadden is getting a lot of touches. Jason Witten gets a lot of touches. When Dez Bryant's playing, he gets a lot of touches. Terrance Williams, Cole Beasley, when Lance Dunbar was playing, he was getting a lot of touches. There is a lot of different guys who are involved in this thing and you try to attack different ways.

"One of the things we try to emphasize to our guys is be ready for your opportunity. And Escobar did a really nice job when he got his chance in Tampa the other day and made a big play for us down the middle. He's consistently done that throughout his career when he's gotten chances and he is getting better and better."

8.) With Tony Romo returning, do the 2-7 Cowboys still have a shot at making the playoffs? Former Super Bowl champion QB Kurt Warner gave his take this week on the NFL Network.

"Tony's a big time player," Warner said. "He makes big time plays for this team. If they get the same kind of effort from everyone else and they just need Tony to be Tony, I think they'll win a lot of games. I just don't know if they can really get back into the race."

9.) Why does Jason Witten think the Cowboys can still make the playoffs?

"I don't think my job is to convince you or anybody else that we can do it," Witten said. "It's to go take it one game at a time. We think we're a good team. We've been in these games. We haven't closed them. We have to be accountable for that, too. Our mindset has really been just take it one game at a time and the reason being we can make plays that allow us to win. You can see a lot of it over these last seven games but ultimately you haven't seen it collectively enough."

Does the team think it can still be done?

"We do," Witten said. "We played in a lot of games with our back against the wall and we've had to do that. It doesn't make it any easier. It doesn't mean because of past experiences we're going to have more success. It just means that we've been there and we understand where we're at and we have to take advantage of our opportunities. [Romo] coming back, it helps but we still have to play good football and not just depend on him to create a lot of those things."

10.) Jason Garrett's playing career ended in Miami, but his coaching career started there. Here's what stands out to him about his time with the Dolphins.

"There were a lot of different things," he said. "My last six games as a player was in Miami, so that was interesting. That was the last time I was playing football, and then a couple weeks later I became a quarterback coach, working for Coach Saban. Those two years were invaluable to me as a coach. I can't tell you how influenced I was by him and that whole experience.

"I had been a player for a long, long time, but this was my first chance to see it from the other side and to see it in that coaching structure and that coaching environment. I can't tell you how much I think I benefitted from that. The days weren't always easy. They were hard days, but they were valuable days. I look back very fondly on them. We tell a lot of stories from those couple of years. There's like literally thousands of great stories from the time there."

He then shared a funny interaction he had early in his coaching career with Nick Saban, but it was off the record. Sorry.