On Father’s Day 2016, Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo visited a local Target to assist shoppers with their gift-buying, but he still had football on the brain.

Having already declared he and wide receiver Dez Bryant would not wait until training camp to put in some extra work, Romo further explained his take on where Bryant is in his recovery.

“I think Dez is getting healthier by the week,” Romo told reporters. “He’s showing signs of being at complete full speed. I think for him more than anything is just once he gets out there and does it over and over again for a couple of weeks, he’s going to be fine. Training camp is a lot of practices and a lot of time. As long as you’re there for training camp, you’re going to be just fine when you’re at the talent level of a Dez Bryant.” – SportsDay

At this point, Romo believes the bigger challenge for Bryant will be overcoming the mental aspect of the injury, not the physical one.

“For him, it’s just about getting your wind, getting down in and out of your break consistently when you’re coming back off an injury, and trusting it,” Romo said. “That just takes a little bit of time. I see no effect of him not being the Dez Bryant that everyone knows.”

Apparently there are no concerns for a lengthy timetable for the tandem to get in simpatico, notes the four-time pro bowler.

“Dez has good instincts,” Romo said. “He understands the game of football. He recognizes coverage and leverage, so his ability to be on the same page with me, that’ll happen Day 1 when he walks back. It’s really just more about him getting himself acclimated with really running all day. That’s the biggest thing for wide receivers in general, just the ability to run route after route after route after route, and the toll that takes on your body. For him, that’s all it’s going to be. He’ll get close to doing that this offseason and by the time training camp comes, I think he’ll be right where he should be.”

The Cowboys will need Bryant to return to full form in 2016 and for Romo to remain healthy as well. This past November, the duo reached a franchise record of 50 touchdown connections, and in only 68 games together. For perspective, Hall of Famers Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin’s record was 49 . . . but it took 128 games to reach that number.

And then there’s this tidbit, courtesy of ESPN:

Numbers don’t lie and if the Cowboys want to make a statement in 2016, Romo and Bryant need to be on the field and on the same page.