Romo’s season over after re-injury to collarbone
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said on Friday that quarterback Tony Romo’s season is over after he fractured his left collarbone for the second time this season.
During a radio interview in Dallas, Jones said that Romo suffered a hairline fracture that will not require surgery. The injury, suffered late in the third quarter of Thursday’s 33-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers, will sideline the 35-year-old Romo for the remaining five games of the regular season.
Romo, who played in just two complete games this season, threw five touchdowns and seven interceptions in four games. After returning from the original broken collarbone — which occurred at Philadelphia in Week Two — Romo threw a combined five interceptions against the Miami Dolphins and Panthers.
Before returning against the Dolphins, a 24-14 Cowboys’ victory in Week 11, Romo acknowledged the risk of returning after a long layoff, saying that the collarbone, while healed, could re-break easier than it did the first time. He authored an uneven performance against the Dolphins, throwing two touchdown passes but also two ill-advised interceptions.
Against the Panthers, Romo threw three first-half interceptions, including two returned for touchdowns. He completed 11 of 21 passes for 106 yards before landing squarely on his left shoulder while being sacked by linebacker Thomas Davis.
“Some of the poor decisions that were made were just uncharacteristic and very frustrating,” Romo said after the game. “I’m disappointed in costing our team a good chance to stay in the game early. Then on top of it, who knows how long after that.”
Romo acknowledged some rust, saying that he was “just a hair late in the thought process compared to normal.” He has said that his biggest concern in returning was being able to excel in in-game situational thinking despite a two-month layoff.
“Playing the position now, I’m not as adept at some things I had been used to doing,” he added. “They were slower. I have to go look at the mechanics part of it, but I just feel physically that my natural instinct is just how it feels. On some of the throws, my brain should have just gone down to the check down versus that coverage.”
The Cowboys are 3-8, but they are winless in the seven games in which Romo did not start.