Tony Romo’s broken back thrust fourth-round quarterback Dak Prescott into duty.
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Fellow rookie Ezekiel Elliott came in for the first time during Dallas’ preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks and stuck his nose right into the chest of Kam Chancellor, one of the hardest hitting safeties in the NFL.
Owner Jerry Jones, historically an eternal optimist when it comes to Romo, said the Cowboys truly “just don’t know” when Romo might play again.
“I didn’t even see him until after I celebrated, and I saw him still on the ground”.
The 49ers, who added five players to the roster before Prescott was selected and eventually took Southern Mississippi quarterback Jeff Driskel in the sixth round, could regret not pouncing if the whole Blaine Gabbert-Colin Kaepernick situation doesn’t work out. “He’ll do the things that he’s capable of doing and won’t do the things he’s not capable of doing and hopefully he’ll progress every day”.
Romo suffered a compression fracture of the L1 vertebra on the third play of the Cowboys preseason game against Seattle last Thursday.
Garrett and Stephen Jones are being vague on a time frame for Romo’s return, but multiple reports are more specific, indicating the 36-year-old quarterback will miss six to 10 weeks with his injury. Prescott would be the first rookie to start for the Cowboys since Quincy Carter in 2001.
“He’s very driven, driven to do what it takes to get back”, said Jones.
Even though the Chiefs are telling teams Murray can be had via trade, it’s also completely plausible for Dallas to pick him up for free on the waiver wire. The quality of his preparation is a real comforting thought here.
In 2001, New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe was sidelined with internal bleeding when second-year and former sixth-round pick Tom Brady stepped into the starting role for the team.
There aren’t many options for Dallas.
Breer followed that tweet with another further dissecting when Romo could see game action.
But Romo’s recovery remains the major storyline.
The Cowboys have a Week 7 bye, then return to play Philadelphia on October 30.
“There is no reason for me to stand up here and put a timetable on this, ” Garrett said. The Cowboys have a week 7 bye week and some analysts expect him to eye a week 8 return.
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Their decision will likely be helped by an MRI scheduled for this weekend that will give everyone a better idea of Romo’s chances of returning at the front end of the 6-10 week timeline laid out when he was initially injured.
