Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo may need to miss more time with a broken bone in his back than initially expected.
According to the Dallas Morning News, Romo will undergo a second MRI this weekend, which will likely determine whether the Cowboys keep him on the active roster to start the season, or place him on injured reserve. If he's placed on IR, the earliest he could return would be Week Nine for the Cowboys' Nov. 6 game against the Browns.
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Romo was initially expected to miss 6-10 weeks after breaking a bone in his back, but it appears it will be closer to 8-10 weeks. The injury will not require surgery.
"We're certainly getting our hands around it,'' Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said. "We need to make that decision obviously sometime later in the weekend.
"Whatever we do with him he needs to be on our 53 when we cut. You've got to have him through the 53-cut before you put him on designated return, if we wanted to consider that. But it may be we keep him on the roster. We'll just see.''
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Though the Cowboys remain optimistic Romo can return this season — and be at least close to the quarterback he was before his injury history spiraled out of control — the fact remains he has a long road ahead of him at 36 years old.
"He's very driven, driven to do what it takes to get back,'' Jones said. "We've really done a lot of research on this. I think this was s a freak accident.
"It's unfortunate for Tony to have some of these things, but I think the last thing in the world we're worried about with Tony is being fragile. He is undeterred and he really believes this team does have a different sort of mindset with him not being here and that we can win games and when he does get back we're ready to make a run."
Rookie quarterback Dak Prescott is expected to start in Romo's place, barring a trade or free agent signing. The dual-threat Mississippi State product has impressed in three preseason appearances, giving Cowboys fans hope the season could still be saved.