OXNARD, Calif. - Tony Romo plans on playing in a game before the regular season opener.
The Cowboys' quarterback said it'll be a progression for him leading into the 49ers game, but he'll be on the field at some point during the preseason.
"I'm going to play in the preseason, obviously," Romo said. "I think that's important. The first game? We'll talk about it."
Romo returned to practice Wednesday after sitting out Tuesday's practice. He said he feels 100 percent, but he's trying to be smart about coming back from back surgery. He said he can do everything, but the question is for how long.
"You'd rather play it safe than be silly and go out and do everything over and over again and then all of a sudden have to sit out," Romo said.
Romo compared his situation to someone recovering off an ACL surgery when it comes to figuring out how long and when to practice. He said players coming off that injury typically push it in the morning, and then many times feel like they can do something in the afternoon.
"You feel like you can, so you go try it and you're like, ah, you're not quite there with that part of it yet, and you've got to continue to develop until it strengthens and gets to that point," Romo said. "There's consistent progress that takes shape and you have to adjust with what your body tells you."
While he may feel 100 percent, Romo also admitted a player's never going to completely feel like his old self after back surgery, and he'll always have to work harder than before. [embedded_ad]
"Once you have back surgery, you kind of have to change the way you do things," Romo said. "You have to constantly work on your glutes, your hamstrings, your abs and strengthen everything around that area. Life will be different after that, but that doesn't mean you can't do the things it takes to be successful."
Part of that recovery is going in a cold tub three times a day. It's a tough recovery process for any quarterback, and Romo said the hardest part of that immediately after surgery was not being able to pick up his kids. He's able to do that now.
As for on the field work, he said he'd do everything if it were up to him. But he also knows he shouldn't overdo it this early.
"You just want to take every rep and do everything and you feel good, and you're like, 'I feel good, let's go,'" Romo said. "But at the same time…it's a little different than most injuries, because we don't have 10 other guys who have gone through this in the last three years. So you've got to kind of just be smart."
