Eagles' Jordan Hicks on Romo retirement: Don't blame me
“Obviously," the Eagles linebacker says, "everybody wants to connect me to Tony, but he’s had a few hits after that, as well."
THE STRING of injuries that led to Tony Romo's recent retirement began with a tackle by Eagles middle linebacker Jordan Hicks in Week 2 of the 2015 season, but Hicks said Tuesday he doesn't think he figures prominently in the Romo narrative.
Hicks was asked if, when he heard Romo was retiring, he thought about his hit, which drove Romo's shoulder into the ground and broke his left collarbone. The Cowboys' all-time touchdown passing leader broke the collarbone again later that season against Carolina, then broke a bone in his back in the 2016 preseason. Rookie Dak Prescott took over impressively as the Cowboys' starter, and earlier this month, in lieu of going to another team, Romo opted for an offer to take a lead analyst role on CBS broadcasts.
"No, I didn't," Hicks said. "Obviously, everybody wants to connect me to Tony, but he's had a few hits after that, as well. I don't take the blame for that."
Before the Eagles' Jan. 1 season-ending victory over Dallas, in which Romo made a brief appearance that will stand as the QB's last game if he truly doesn't play again, Hicks was interviewed by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about the matter. He said then that as a University of Texas alum whose fiancee's family avidly follows the Cowboys, he knows his Romo injury connection is never quite forgotten.
"I get it quite a bit," he said. "I hear it." Hicks said then that he has never talked to Romo about the play.
Tuesday, Hicks called Romo "somebody that could probably still contribute, but he's got to do what's best for him and his family."
Hicks spoke on the second day of Phase 1 of the Eagles' offseason workout program. He said he has been able to do more upper-body work this offseason than last, since he no longer is rehabbing the pec tendon injury that ended his 2015 rookie season prematurely.
"It's huge to get a full year of, just the playing time, that's first and foremost . . . and then going into the offseason and just being able to train . . . not having to start off at square one, focus on that rehab," Hicks said. "It's been a good offseason. I am a little bit bigger."
Hicks said in Jim Schwartz's defense, in which the defensive ends are turned loose in a Wide-9 setup, a linebacker has to be strong. On run plays, o-linemen often are charging at the LBs unimpeded.
"In this defense, it's all taking on blocks and getting off of blocks to make a tackle," Hicks said. "The defensive line is going to be disruptive, but you're going to have to take on blocks to be able to get into the tackles ... being able to punch and shed."
Hicks said knowing Schwartz better, in the coordinator's second season, also is valuable, for a middle linebacker and defensive leader.
"You get a feel for the way he handles a game, handles practice, his expectations going into certain situations. That communication, the ability to kind of read each other's mind and understand where we want to be and where we want this defense to be, we can only go up," Hicks said.