IRVING, Texas – While sitting out of practice became a normal procedure for Tony Romo during training camp this year, Wednesday was the first time in the regular season the Cowboys have held a practice without their starting quarterback.
Tightness in his back popped up in between a morning walk-through and the late-morning practice. Romo did not practice, but said he plans on returning by Thursday and will be on hand for the rest of the week. And certainly, he's expecting to start once again Sunday in St. Louis.
By having surgery last December to repair a herniated disk, Romo knows the attention that has been placed on this injury and his rehab. With every pass that isn't a tight spiral, or an underthrown ball, Romo's back injury becomes a topic of conversation.
While the tightness is something new – at least for the regular season – it doesn't seem to be an issue with which Romo is concerned.
"It's going to happen. It's going to pop up. I'm sure it'll happen throughout the rest of the season," Romo said on Wednesday. "You'll see a day here or there. It's the same as the arm. Sometimes your arm gets … you know. It's just obviously more talked about because of having surgery on the back.
"You play this game. It's a very violent, physical game, and you throw the ball a lot and you do all of these things. Sometimes it's just that tightness stuff comes up. You prefer obviously to do everything 100 percent of the time, but you can't always do that. I'll be fine. I'll be good to go tomorrow." [embedded_ad]
Romo also said the tightness wasn't exactly bad enough to keep him off the field, making the decision to sit out more precautionary.
"I think the tightness just happens based off volume of things you've done. Obviously a lot of throwing we've done over the last few weeks. That part of it. And then just wanting to have the ability to always make sure that you feel good going into the rest of the week. I'll be back tomorrow. I'm good to go."
While Wednesday's practice is typically the day for installing the upcoming game plan, Romo said the meetings and walk-through still provide him with enough time and exposure to get ready for the Rams.
"Wednesday is a lot of our run game stuff. The installation part of it, though, you have that stuff down before you go out on the field," Romo said. "It's not like you're just catching on when you're out there. I've had plenty of meetings and communication and walk-throughs."
