IRVING, Texas – Tony Romo is back in the U.S., and his back is apparently fine.
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett spoke to reporters Tuesday afternoon following the team's return from London, and he said Romo made it through both Sunday's game and Monday's trip home without any further injury to his back.
"It appears like he came out of the game fairly clean, and he didn't seem to have any issues on the flight coming back. It seems like he's in good shape," Garrett said.
Romo didn't look remotely rusty in his return to game action Sunday night. He competed 20-of-27 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-17 win against Jacksonville. Despite the fact that Romo was coming off two fractures to the transverse processes in his back, Garrett said he wasn't surprised to see such a strong performance.
"No, I wasn't. I thought he'd play well. He practiced well on Thursday and Friday – it seemed like it was kind of a normal week for him," Garrett said. "The flight over there was definitely a potential issue – how guys handle that, certainly if you have back issues. But he seemed to get off that plane and feel pretty good."
Several other NFL quarterbacks, including Brad Johnson and Daunte Culpepper, have gone through the same injury and used similar timelines for return. It has to benefit the Cowboys, though, that Romo now has nearly two weeks to recuperate in time for the Nov. 23 game against the Giants.
From the sound of it, a good chunk of that down time will be rest. The Cowboys have practiced scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday of this week, but Garrett said he doesn't anticipate a lot of football-related activity from his quarterback this week.
"Probably not a whole lot. There's probably a handful of guys on our team who have been dealing with stuff that won't do a lot," he said.
That goes for several other members of the Cowboys' roster, as they hope to use the week off to get as many players as healthy as possible. Rolando McClain, Tyrone Crawford and Nick Hayden join Romo as notable players dealing with injuries.
"The practices will be short, we'll only be out on the field for about an hour," Garrett said. "So for the most part, some of the guys who have been banged up or dealing with some things will get the blood flowing a little bit but won't do a whole lot of football."
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