AP

AP

The OTAs are done and so is the Dallas Cowboys minicamp. Quarterback Tony Romo is calling this his best off season yet.

"My individual stuff, yeah, I've definitely made progress and I'm excited about it," Romo said. "We threw a lot of stuff in, a lot, as far as from a schematic standpoint from both sides of the ball. I know offensively we definitely had more stuff over the course of three, four weeks than we've ever had. We're trying to shock the guys in a way to see if we can get it, study it and the next day come out and execute it."

Head coach Wade Phillips dispelled reports that Romo needed to be in better shape to handle a 16-game schedule or that he had developed bad practice habits.

"He didn't have any bad practice habits, he's a competitor in practice," Phillips said. "That's what I've liked about Tony the whole time; he's a competitor in practice. Every play is like a game to him and you'd like every player to be that way.

"There's things he needs to work on, he's addressing and we're addressing them like with any player. Of course he's in the limelight so you see more of that."

Romo says the offense isn't up to full speed just yet and says minicamp gave him a clearer picture about his understanding of the system.

"The body of work will speak for itself," Romo said. "Everybody has understood we're out here to get better. We're out here to get a better understanding of the offense and to get to know one another. That's just part of the development of this group."

One weapon he doesn't have any more is last year's top target, Terrell Owens. Instead, it's Roy Williams who's assumed the role of No. 1 wide receiver.

"Me personally, I've gotten better since day one," Williams said. "That's all we can do is improve each and every day, getting the timing down with Tony, getting the terminology down and getting better with the offense.

AP

"I got so much pressure on me so I'm going to have to go out there and get ready to perform."

Said Romo, "Roy's a good teammate. He's worked hard. You know we got in there a little earlier this off season. We needed to get together and run some routes and throw the ball and life some weights and run and stuff and it shows. He's out there. From this point right now, he's really doing some good things. It's good to see and I'm excited about the progress he's had this off season."

But there is still work to be done.

Romo says he plans to be more active as a team leader this year, leadership the Cowboys could have used last year when the team began to unravel.

"That's part of being a quarterback," Phillips said. "You have that opportunity to be an active leader. Some of 'em chose to, some of 'em don't. Some of 'em do it in different ways."

"You have to do it in your own personality. You have to play within yourself and you have to be a leader within yourself. You can't be somebody you're not, or it won't help."

Romo is about to enter his third full season as the Cowboys starting quarterback. After 39 starts, he's 27-12, but he hasn't won any playoff games. Despite his lack of postseason success, Romo isn't about to change jobs.

"Your days consist of what am I going to do to get better in football today. And then the rest of the day, okay what am I going to do for fun," Romo said. "I've been pretty fortunate to be able to do this for a living. I know that and I understand that and I try not to take it for granted, be a sad day when it's over that's for sure."

The next time Romo and the Cowboys take the field as a team will be at training camp in San Antonio. Until then, the conditioning program will continue with mandatory time off before the real work begins.