Aikman on T-Jack

Former Cowboys QB Troy Aikman discussed Tarvaris Jackson with Mark Craig of the Star-Trib. Aikman’s assessment of our embattled signal-caller:

"From what I’ve seen, and what I saw the other night, I think he’s immensely talented. I mean he’s able to do some things that quite frankly a lot of quarterbacks can’t do with his ability to create and make plays. It looks very natural and easy for him. And what I’ve seen from him is when he has a clean pocket and he knows where he’s going with the football, I have seen him deliver the football very effectively.But things aren’t always that clean in the pocket in this league. You have to be able to make throws when things aren’t clean and you’re a little off-balance and you’re getting some pressure. Those are some areas where I’m sure he’d be the first to tell you he needs to get better."

There’s never been much doubt about Jackson’s physical talent – just his ability to make reads and deliver the ball and lead an offense the way a good quarterback is supposed to. Aikman also discussed T-Jack’s future in light of the team’s apparent flirtation with Brett Favre in the off-season:

"If they feel Tarvaris Jackson is their quarterback, then yes, they should stick with him through difficult times. They need to say this is our guy and we’re going to need to weather some of this. But if they don’t, then they owe it to the rest of those players to do something and address that.There’s nothing that I know of that leads me to believe that they don’t believe Tarvaris Jackson is their guy now. But they were one of the teams that expressed a real interest in Brett Favre. So my reaction to that would be that if there was in fact an interest in Brett Favre, which I believe there was, then I think that’s very telling of what the organization’s opinion is of Tarvaris Jackson."

The organization’s opinion of Jackson will depend on how secure they feel about their jobs. If this is indeed a make-or-break year as some think it is (or at least should be), then they’re going to be less tolerant of stinkbomb performances like Monday night. If, however, Zygi Wilf has given assurances that Brad Childress et al will be back next year regardless of whether the team succeeds in ’08…well, then they’re going to stick with the T-Jack Project, and the veteran players who want to win now can grumble all they want.