Oh no, Romo on the shelf again
No timetable for QB, who has broken bone in back, but coach insists he’s not done
Tony Romo is out with yet another back injury and it’s unknown when he will return, although Dallas coach Jason Garrett says he expects his star quarterback to play this season.
Garrett said Saturday Romo sustained a broken bone in his back when he was hit from behind by Seattle’s Cliff Avril and slid awkwardly on the third play of a pre-season game.
Romo tried to get back into Thursday’s game and said afterward he was OK. But Garrett said the 36-yearold woke up Friday with stiffness and an MRI revealed Romo’s fourth back injury in less than four years. The injury will not require surgery.
While some reports have suggested Romo could be out for six to 10 weeks, Garrett wouldn’t rule out his starting quarterback for the regular-season opener Sept. 11 against the New York Giants. Rookie Dak Prescott, a fourth-round pick who has had a strong pre-season, is the presumed starter, although Garrett wouldn’t acknowledge that either.
“If you guys remember, he has played with fractures in his back before,” Garrett said, referring to Romo’s quick return from a small fracture in his back in 2014.
“So that probably more than anything else is what is not giving us a timetable. We’ve heard a wide range of possibilities in terms of when he would be able to play.”
The Cowboys plunged from 12-4 in 2014 to 4-12 last season, when Romo missed 12 games with a twice-broken left collarbone. Dallas went 1-11 without him.
Romo had back surgery twice in 2013, the first time during the off-season and again in December after rupturing a disc in Week 16 against Washington and missing the finale that the Cowboys lost with a playoff berth on the line.
In 2014, the four-time Pro Bowl player sustained a small fracture in his back and missed a loss to Arizona before leading the Cowboys to the NFC East title and their first playoff win since 2009.
Garrett said Romo’s injury won’t end his season.
“It’s not related to the other back issues that he’s had,” Garrett said.
Centre Travis Frederick said the team was surprised by the news when they reported to the team’s new practice facility Saturday.
“Still trying to take it in a little bit,” Frederick said. “The name of the game for us has always been focusing on taking things one day at a time and also have the ‘next man in’ mentality. Being able to have Dak step up and be able to take over that role and just support him in any way that we can.”
Prescott was elevated to the backup job when incumbent Kellen Moore broke his right ankle in a training camp practice.
The former Mississippi State standout has a pre-season passer rating of 137.8, completing 39 of 50 passes for 454 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. He also has two rushing TDs.
The Cowboys are likely to add a veteran if Romo misses extended time, but now it figures to be as a backup to Prescott rather than the next in line behind Romo.