IRVING – Drew Bledsoe's statistics place him among some of the finest passers in NFL history.

Names like Unitas. Moon. Tarkenton.

But a few weeks ago, there was a groundswell of public support fueled by sports talk radio for Tony Romo to replace Bledsoe after Romo turned in a scintillating performance in the Cowboys' first preseason game.

Just like that, Bledsoe's 43,447 passing yards were forgotten. So were his 244 touchdown passes and three Pro Bowl appearances.

Today at Jacksonville, he will make the 188th start of his career.

"I've done a lot of good things in my career, and I know I can still play the game at a high level," Bledsoe said. "It is motivating, but it's not something I spend a lot of time worrying about. When I'm done playing, that story can be written. I'm gonna let what happens on the field speak for itself, and when it's all done, I'm gonna be satisfied with what I've done."

Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said fan and media interest in Romo as a starter didn't surprise him.

"It's just like the actress in Hollywood," Parcells said of Romo. "It's the new pretty face."

Bledsoe, who completed 60.1 percent of his passes with 23 touchdowns and 17 interceptions last season, is no longer considered one of the game's elite quarterbacks. Still, he remains a quality starter in a league filled with mediocrity at the position.

RICKY MOON / Special to DMN

Drew Bledsoe (11) and Julius Jones will lead the Cowboys in action today at Jacksonville.

That, however, will never be enough in Dallas, where the Cowboys have won five Super Bowls. No other franchise has won more.

And the two finest quarterbacks in franchise history – Roger and Troy – are easily identified by one name. Each is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. They are the gold standard when it comes to judging quarterbacks in Dallas. To gain acceptance, Bledsoe must do what they did.

"The focus on the quarterback position mirrors the way people feel about the Dallas Cowboys," team owner Jerry Jones said. "They expect us to be contenders, and when we're not, there's a letdown. There are high expectations for our club and our quarterback."

Jones and Parcells have given Bledsoe a defense fortified with five No. 1 draft choices since 2002. And the offense has been stocked with receivers Terrell Owens and Terry Glenn and tight end Jason Witten, giving the Cowboys one of the league's finest triumvirates.

So there is pressure on Bledsoe, 34, to prove that he can still lead a team to the Super Bowl.

"I know there's not eight more years I'm going to do this, so I have an appreciation for the urgency to win. I learned that very early on," said Bledsoe, who helped Parcells take New England to Super Bowl XXXI.

"I was around [Dan] Marino quite a bit. He was a guy who went to a Super Bowl very early in his career and didn't get back. I watched what happened with his career, and there's a sense of urgency every year. You have to give it your best effort to get it done."

None of Bledsoe's four children had been born when Green Bay beat the Patriots in New Orleans on Jan. 26, 1997. He has a championship ring from New England's triumph in Super Bowl XXXVI, but he watched as Tom Brady led the Patriots over St. Louis, and Bledsoe's mother keeps the ring in a safety deposit box in Montana.

Bledsoe was replaced by Brady after he suffered a chest injury in Week 2 against the New York Jets.

"I haven't seen that ring in a long time," Bledsoe said.

The NFL is always about the quarterback, the epicenter of the offense. But early in his tenure in Dallas, Parcells did not have a quarterback who he thought was capable of being the focal point of the team's offense. In fact, he referred to Quincy Carter and Vinny Testaverde as "bus drivers."

That's not the case with Bledsoe, who still has the arm strength and velocity on his passes to exploit any weaknesses in coverage.

"He can really throw the ball, and he can make all of the throws," said veteran Aaron Glenn, who played against Bledsoe several times as a cornerback with the New York Jets. "When we played against him, we wanted to pressure him so he wouldn't be comfortable. You do that to any quarterback and they'll struggle."

Bledsoe disputes the notion that he holds onto the ball too long, looking downfield for the big play, but he was sacked at least 45 times in five of the last six seasons. Early in his career, Bledsoe had the lateral quickness to slide around the pocket and avoid sacks. He was never sacked more than 30 times in a season until 1998.

Still, he has a toughness that inspires his teammates. He has started 48 consecutive games.

It's a toughness instilled in him by his father, Mac, a high school coach, when Drew was a sophomore at Walla Walla High School.

"I got some of that from my old man," said Bledsoe, who then chuckled at a memory. "I got annihilated on the play. I was wondering if I would ever take another breath when I looked over at the sideline and saw my dad telling me to get up. Well, if Dad says get up, I guess I have to get up. After the game, I went to the hospital, and they said I had a bruised liver."

Jones and Parcells hope that toughness translates into the Cowboys' first division title since 1998, first playoff win since 1996 and maybe their first Super Bowl appearance in more than a decade.

"We all feel like this is a team that's set up to win a lot of games, and if we don't do that, it'll be a failure on all of our parts," Bledsoe said. "We know what's here and what's expected of us. We have high expectations. If that doesn't happen, it won't be good. [Parcells] said he thinks we have a chance. He likes the guys on the team and thinks we have a chance to do something special. But it's up to us to do it on the field."

It starts with Bledsoe.

E-mail jjtaylor@dallasnews.com