Report: Romo’s done
THAT TOUCHDOWN throw Tony Romo made to win the game Sunday just got more impressive and the Cowboys’ chances of winning the NFC East may just have gotten worse.
The star-crossed quarterback is done for the season, according to ESPN, with a back injury aggravated during the Cowboys’ 2423 victory over the Redskins. Veteran Kyle Orton would start in the winner-take-all battle against the Eagles in Dallas Sunday night. ESPN reported that Romo has a herniated disc in his lumbar region that will require surgery.
The betting line on that game jumped from 21/ 2 to 71/ 2 points in Philly’s favor.
The Cowboys disputed the report and did not rule Romo out. Coach Jason Garrett, in what may be a futile attempt to blow smoke, said at his press conference Romo’s status was “day-to-day.” At the same time, he confirmed the Cowboys are planning to sign another QB. “We haven’t made that determination at all at this point,” Garrett said of the report. “We have Kyle Orton here for a reason. But right now, we have a quarterback who is getting treatment for an injury in the game. We’re coming up with a course of action,” Garrett said. “We’ll evaluate it on a day-by-day basis. The MRI was part of the evaluation. There’s a series of things.”
Nor have Romo’s teammates given up on him. “He’s been pretty resilient and I know he’ll do everything he can to get back,” Jason Witten said.
Romo, who scrambled f ree of pressure on fourth-and-goal and fou nd De - Marco Murray for a 10-yard TD pass that saved the Cowboys’ season, said afterward he would have an MRI on his back Monday. He was clearly limping during the game and admitted his back, which was sore coming into the game, had tightened up after he spun away from a hit in the first half.
“That triggered it a little bit,” he said. “For whatever reason, the twist or whatever it was, it definitely made it not feel comfortable. But it’s in a completely different spot than the back stuff I had last year, so that’s a good sign.”
Romo, who had a cyst removed from his back last April, finished 17-of-27 for 226 yards and was expecting to be able to play against the 9-6 Eagles. “It was as big of a win as we’ve had … doing it when trailing by what we were in the fourth quarter,” Romo said. “Today, we felt like we were playing for everything. Next week will be the same thing, so we’ll go do it again.”
Even Jerry Jones was downplaying the injury after the game. “We think it will be OK,” he said Sunday night. “It was a tightening. It wasn’t a contusion. It was a little tightening there. But we will work on that all week. He’s kind of getting some special treatment for it. It didn’t keep him from playing and won’t keep him from playing.”
Sunday was the 23rd time Romo had rallied the Cowboys to a fourth-quarter victory in his career. But he is only 1-6 in elimination games. Orton last started in three games for the Chiefs in 2011. He has thrown just five passes this year and completed three of them for 40 yards. He is 35-34 in 69 starts, most of them made for the Bears and Broncos from 200810. Since Romo’s first start with the Cowboys in 2006, all other Cowboy QBs are 6-7. The Eagles were not reveling in the news. “Put all your chips on the table,” said RB LeSean McCoy, who would rather see the best players on the field.