Q: Did you get all the work you wanted to get done going indoors today?

TODD HALEY: “We tried like heck to go outside but by the time we broke our meetings there was about a four inch puddle down the middle of the field and I just thought it would be counter-productive. I thought the indoor went well. We had the pads on and I think that’s a first for us practicing inside. Inside things always pick up.”

Q: What have you seen on tape about Tony Romo? He’s not a guy that is afraid to put the ball into small holes.

HALEY: “I was with Tony for three years. I really think a lot of him. He loves the game. He plays it that way with passion and enthusiasm and he increases the margin of error for his team. That’s originally why we put him in back in 2006 or 2007 or whenever it was, because of that ability to keep plays alive. They’re very good on explosive plays and a lot of that is him. They’re running for a bunch of big plays but when they’re throwing it it’s generally because of that ability.”

Q: In the pre-season you were talking about how Matt Cassel would give you little ideas for plays. Does he still offer much input?

HALEY: “The way I’ve operated all along – whatever position I’ve been in but specifically coordinator – but if guys do the research and put the film work in and have ideas or thoughts that fit into our personnel then I’m all for it. Generally when a player comes up with something like that he knows he’s a little more accountable for it. The players try to make it work. It’s a as-it-comes basis. All these quarterbacks do a great job of studying the tape, understanding what they’re seeing from the defense and that allows a lot of times for thought. It might be a simple route adjustment. It’s the communication that goes on and that’s really happening between all of us. We watch a lot of tapes together – quarterbacks, receivers and tight ends specifically.”

Q: Sean Ryan has the most receptions on the team. I don’t think Chiefs fans expected that after Tony Gonzalez was gone. Can you talk about the job he’s done?

HALEY: “I’ve had experience with Sean in the past. We actually tried to get him to Arizona and he went to San Francisco at the last minute which I still haven’t quite forgiven him for. He’s a bring-his-lunch-bucket-to-work guy. You know you’re going to get a full day’s work from Sean. When the practice is over he’s beat up, he’s usually bleeding, there’s a new scar every day and when the game goes on it’s the same thing. I like those kinds of guys. I like those kinds of players. You know you’re going to get a full fight from Sean Ryan and that’s the type and attitude we’re looking for.”

Q: Has he given you more of the receiving part of it than you thought you’d get?

HALEY: “Probably more than I thought, but I always kind of held out hope that Sean would become a starting-type player in the league, even way back when I first got to know him. He’s a guy that’s worked really hard in all areas all the time. I think those types of guys you need on your team.”

Q: When you were down in the Red Zone last week you went to Leonard Pope once. Do you expect to do more of that?

HALEY: “All those tight ends have routes that they get a lot of work on. Obviously, when you get a guy that’s plus 6'5" whether it’s Brad (Cottam) or Leonard (Pope) you’ve got some unique skill sets.

“Now, the problem is they don’t always get to work on that stuff a lot, so if you’re doing some of that you have to make sure you’re working and practicing at it and developing their skill. It’s easy to say a guy is 6'7", so throw it to him on the fade, but unless you’re out there practicing and working at that it’s not an easy situation to be in.”

Q: Can you expand on the Cowboys’ ground game?

HALEY: “Again, I think they lead in explosive runs and have some weapons. It sounds like a broken record. But I was with Marion (Barber) for three years and I know what he is. He’s bringing it every down. You had better be ready to tackle him. He can bounce it; he can cut it back. He’s a whirling Dervish.

“(Tashard) Choice I don’t know other than watching on tape and seeing him last year and this year. He looks like he’s a guy who’s come in and been pretty productive. He’s different than Marion in that he’s quick, a little more of a scat-back runner. Got a low center of gravity, tough, runs hard, looks for people to hit. Felix (Jones) obviously is a break-away, can score of anywhere runner.”

Q: When you say explosive runs do you mean over 10 yards?

HALEY: “Yeah, 10 plus. I think they’re leading.”

Q: What was it that Romo showed you and the other coaches there in Dallas when you were there that made you put him in the starting lineup? He was an unknown around the country?

HALEY: “I was the receivers coach and then pass game coordinator. He was the epitome of a gym rat. You couldn’t get him out of the building. We had racquet ball courts in Dallas in the facility and he and I had a grudge match going every day for months. We were coming out of there looking like Sean Ryan, both of us bleeding and hitting each other with the racquet and the ball. He’s just that type of guy – around all the time. Could be the middle of winter and he’d be calling me out on the field and saying, ‘coach, come look at this: I’m moving the ball this much in my hand; I’m putting my pinkie here instead of here. Will you come watch me throw this?’ That’s what got him to where he elevated himself to.

“You know, he has a unique skill set for the quarterback. He’s very athletic, extremely athletic, great vision. The athleticism allows him to move around. He doesn’t always use the athleticism to run; he uses it to keep the play alive and get away from pressure. But he keeps his eyes down the field and, again, you’d better be defending the whole field longer when he’s in there. You might think the play is over and he’s whipping it across the field breaking all the rules.”

Q: Even though you were the receivers coach and he was the quarterback you still had a lot of daily contact?

HALEY: “Oh yeah. As a receivers coach you’re with the quarterbacks a bunch, at least that’s the way I like it.”

Q: How tough a decision was it to go with Tony Romo? Was there some controversy?

HALEY: “That’s going way back, but anytime you have discussions like that and you make major changes you know they don’t come without a lot of scrutiny and especially down there and it being the Cowboys. It created a lot of hoopla. But that was a coaching staff decision and we kind of had the roundtable vote of who’s in and who’s out.”

Q: What do you see in Matt Cassel that you saw in Tony Romo?

HALEY: “Different types of quarterbacks. I don’t think that Matt has the quickness that Romo does to dodge in and out of things and move around. But Matt in return is big and can see over things that Tony might have to move out and find during the course of a play. But the gym rat portion of it, loving football, they’re very close to the same.”