In his weekly talk with The Musers on The Ticket, SportsRadio 1310 AM and 96.7 FM in Dallas, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback and Fox analyst Troy Aikman discussed the condition of the Dallas Cowboys' quarterback situation. Aikman pointed out that there's plenty of evidence that the Cowboys can't expect Tony Romo to be their reliable go-to guy anymore.

"People want to question how good is the offensive line," Aikman said. "They didn't run the ball as effectively as they did a year ago. There's a lot of reasons for that. But I'll put them pass protecting up against anyone in football every week, if you watch the pocket and the time the quarterbacks have to throw the ball. So last year, Tony didn't get hit much. And this year, Tony didn't get hit much."

Yet Aikman cited two red flags that have to make Cowboys fans concerned going forward. The first became apparent when he spoke with Romo following his opener with the Giants. The Fox stats crew told Aikman that the Dallas starter had only hit the ground three times against New York.

"So when we talked to Tony the next week," Aikman explained, "I said, 'You must feel like you didn't play last week. You barely got touched.' He said, 'Yeah, but at the end of the game I took a late hit in the back' and immediately said his back went back to where it was a year ago, in terms of how he had to manage it. So he was back to, 'OK, well how do I handle this this week?' And I thought that was very telling for a guy who's gotten a little bit older."

Aikman's second moment that struck him came upon Romo's return from an eight-week stint on injured reserve.

"He hadn't done anything in eight weeks except rehab and try to get healthier and all that. Hs first week back before that Miami Dolphins game, he didn't practice on Wednesday. And I thought, that's really strange that you'd be off for two months and yet you can't make it through an entire week of practice. I understand last year when he gets hit on a weekly basis, but to not have played in a game for two months and not be able to make it through a full week of practice, I thought that was kind of telling."

With that evidence from this season, Aikman said the Cowboys can't approach signing a backup quarterback lightly considering the condition of Romo.

"Can he go through next year and 16 games and be fine? Yeah, you don't ever know," Aikman said. "But if you just look at what's happened and be realistic about it, I think you're going to have to be able to rely on a backup. And most teams are, for at least a game or two. And with Tony, based on history, it's more probable than not that he's going to miss some time."