With the final roster cuts and decisions being made ahead of the start of a new NFL season, the Dallas Cowboys have decided to keep injured quarterback Tony Romo off the injured reserve list and on the active roster. The decision by Jerry Jones is due to an urge to wait and see if there is a chance Romo happens to be able to come back later in the season.
“We don’t have anybody valuable enough to take up that lost spot to give us the opportunity to see how [Romo] does,” Jones told 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “There’s just not enough value there realistically to bring someone else in. That’s the deciding factor. You don’t have to spend a lot of time, going over and kind of circumcising a mosquito. … There’s nobody good enough to take that spot to give you a chance for that ‘if’ — if [Romo] can come back.”
That actually makes sense. The reports about the amount of time Romo could potentially miss have been pretty scattered, and it might be possible he can return to the football field at some point this season, but at what cost? Will be as effective as the Cowboys might need him to be in the NFC East? Is he more likely to be injured after coming back from a broken bone in his back than he would be if he took the entire year off and focused on a possible return in 2017?
I’m no doctor, and neither is Jones, but Jones calls the shots with the Cowboys, even if he should yield some of the decision-making power at times.
“I don’t want to rule out anything,” Jones said. “I don’t know that anybody is qualified to do that. Medicine basically gives you estimates and guidelines, and I’m not trying to be vague here, but there’s no need to rule out anything. We don’t have a situation on the 53 [man roster]. This isn’t a day-of-game situation.”
The Cowboys are expecting to move forward with rookie Dak Prescott running the offense, and newly acquired Mark Sanchez serving as a backup. In addition to Romo, the Cowboys also lost backup quarterback Kellen Moore to an injury in the preseason. Romo is expected to go through X-rays in the coming weeks to update his status. Perhaps after those X-rays are taken and evaluated, the Cowboys will be a bit more decisive with the status of their franchise quarterback.
[ESPN]
