Romo Suffers Broken Bone in Back; Dak Prescott Prepared to Start

(AP Photo)

DALLAS (Yahoo! Sports) — When Tony Romo left the Dallas Cowboys’ preseason game with the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night after sliding awkwardly, getting crunched by Cliff Avril and then grabbing at his back, the team said the veteran quarterback was not allowed to return to the game on the coaches’ decision.

Turns out, it was a probably a very smart decision.

Romo apparently didn’t feel well when he woke up Friday morning; his back had stiffened. That led to the decision to have him get an MRI. The test revealed the broken bone.

“Tony is obviously disappointed. He’s the ultimate competitor,” Garrett told reporters.

Garrett would not put a timetable on Romo’s return, and did not rule out him being available for the Cowboys’ regular-season opener because Romo has played with fractures in his back before. But broken bones generally have a six-week minimum recovery time, and ProFootballTalk reported that Romo is looking at 6-to-10 weeks before he can return.

ESPN’s Todd Archer tweeted that Romo suffered a compression fracture of his L1 vertebrae, the L1 is in the lower third of the spine, approximately even with the lowest rib.

While Garrett left the door open on Romo not sitting out the opener, there is a possibility that rookie Dak Prescott will be the Cowboys’ starter on Sept. 11 when they host the New York Giants.

Prescott has created a ton of buzz with his performance thus far this preseason, completing 39 of 50 passes for 454 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions, including a perfect 158.3 passer rating against the Miami Dolphins last week. He also rushed for two touchdowns against Miami.