IRVING, Texas – At some point before they take the field in Washington, the Cowboys will need a second quarterback on their roster – it just hasn't happened yet.
It's been five days since Tony Romo fractured his left collarbone against Carolina on Thanksgiving, but the Cowboys have yet to place him on injured reserve. As unlikely as it sounds, that could be out of some slim hope for a playoff return.
Romo's recovery timeline is projected at six-to-eight weeks, which means he could feasibly return for a possible playoff game if the Cowboys keep him on the active roster. Of course, in order to make the playoffs, Dallas would have to go on quite a run to climb out of their 3-8 hole during the final month of the season.
In the meantime, the Cowboys are likely to promote practice squad quarterback Kellen Moore to the 53-man roster as Matt Cassel's backup – they just haven't done it yet.
"We would anticipate Kellen moving up into that No. 2 role," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said on Monday.
Moore joined the Cowboys in September after being released by the Lions. He spent several weeks on the active roster the first time Romo injured his collarbone, but he has yet to appear in a regular season NFL game.
Moore spent two seasons with Scott Linehan in Detroit, and Garrett said his familiarity with the Cowboys' offense has been impressive during his three months with the team.
"I think that's one of his real assets, is that he's a really smart football player," Garrett said. "Obviously he's been around Scott Linehan in Detroit, so he has a comfort level with him and with our system. The terminology and some of the nuances and details of our system is different than what he ran in Detroit, but I do think he has comfort level with the concepts and how we try to do things."
The Cowboys don't necessarily need to move Romo to IR in order to promote Moore, though. They released rookie running back Trey Williams on Monday, so there is currently an open spot on the active roster. There's also a plan to activate rookie Chaz Green from the Physically Unable to Perform list, though, so the front office may need to make another roster move.
There are also two other practice squad spots the Cowboys will have to consider. The team announced it had released defensive back Tim Scott on Tuesday afternoon. Earlier on Tuesday morning, the Buffalo Bills also announced they had claimed defensive end Lavar Edwards off the Dallas practice squad.
