IRVING, Texas – With Brandon Weeden being released, it sounds like the Cowboys will return to their familiar two-quarterback formula this weekend in Miami.
Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones didn't specify what the plan is for bringing Tony Romo back to the active roster, but he did say Tuesday that he expects Romo and Matt Cassel to be his active quarterbacks for Sunday's game against the Dolphins.
"I'll assure you, if there were two up, it would be Romo and Cassel – subject to any type of injury, and there's none," he said.
The Cowboys currently have 51 players on their active roster -- Keith Smith was released on Monday -- but they have yet to move Romo up to the active roster. They have until Saturday to activate Romo from the short-term injured reserve, and Jones said the front office will use that time to evaluate things from an injury standpoint.
"We don't have to make those decisions until we get right down to the end of the week," Jones said. "It has everything to do with injury status. Again, I'm not trying to give you a general arm-waving, but we'll see how that thing goes at the end of the week."
There are several injury concerns that bear monitoring, including Morris Claiborne and Sean Lee. Jones reiterated that Claiborne status is a question mark heading into this week, but he reiterated Cowboys coach Jason Garrett that Lee should be able to practice Wednesday.
With the decision to part ways with Weeden, the Cowboys can now use Smith's roster spot to bolster their depth at another position, should they choose. Injuries at linebacker make both Smith and Mark Nzeocha possible candidates for promotion. Or the Cowboys could look in another direction.
As Garrett said on Monday, the coaching staff won't be in a rush to make the decision.
"Over the next day or so, we'll have a lot of those discussions about what we feel," he said. "Some of that's based on the injuries that happened in the game yesterday and what the availability of those guys will be as we practice and get into this game."
