IRVING, Texas – Cowboys coach Jason Garrett didn't have any news of a Christmas miracle regarding his starting quarterback.
Garrett spoke to the media Wednesday -- the first time he'd done so since he listed Tony Romo as "day-to-day" while dealing with a back injury suffered in the win against Washington. Predictably, Garrett was peppered with questions about Romo's health after two days of treatment.
His answer was predictable, as well.
"Tony, we're taking day-by-day. I saw him this morning, and he's still working his way through this thing," Garrett said.
Romo was at the Cowboys' Valley Ranch facility Wednesday morning, but he did not participate in team meetings. Garrett said Romo is undergoing the same rehabilitation regimen as any other injured player. Asked if Romo appeared to be in any obvious pain, he was reluctant to answer.
"You'll probably have to ask him, but he certainly doesn't seem overly comfortable. He's still working his way back through it," Garrett said.
Having said that, Garrett added it seemed like the situation had improved from when news of Romo's injury first surfaced on Monday.
"It seems like he is feeling a little bit better," he said. "But we have a number of guys who are injured on our team and we evaluate them the same way and we see how they're feeling."
Although Romo was nowhere to be seen at practice, new signee Jon Kitna was on hand for the proceedings. Kitna, who played for the Cowboys from 2009-11, didn't officially join the roster until Wednesday morning.
Garrett said the veteran's familiarity with the Dallas offense made him the optimal choice to be the team's scout team quarterback this week.
"Like we said the other day, we felt like we needed to sign another quarterback. We had a number of different quarterbacks in here for workouts yesterday," Garrett said. "We felt like, when you look at the landscape of guys who could help us on short notice, Kitna was the guy who kind of rose to the top of that."
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The Cowboys worked out David Carr, Tyler Thigpen, John Skelton, Caleb Hanie and Richard Bartel at their facility on Tuesday. But Garrett said Kitna, who still keeps in touch with members of the team, contacted the team on his own accord.
"He actually reached out to us. My comment back was 'Are you serious?' He said, 'Absolutely.' He was excited about it," Garrett said. "He spoke to his family about it, and it just made sense to us. We'll see what he's able to do here today and over the next couple of days and see how well he functions."
