Before people start thinking about the long term affect of a 33 year old quarterback going through back surgery, the most important thing for Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys is that he won’t be able to play in their NFC East win-or-go-home game against the Philadelphia Eagles, or in the playoffs if they actually make it.
After trying to rest him and giving him epidural, Romo still felt the pain was too much for him. Romo is known to be one of the quarterbacks who usually ignores injuries and gets through the pain, but at some point even he understood that when you’re barely able to function outside the football pitch due to his herniated disk, there was no chance he’d be able to play against the Eagles.
The Cowboys were hoping for better news and some miraculous recovery during the week, but the chances were small from the start. Kyle Orton was prepping to be the starter, Jon Kitna was brought out of retirement to serve as his backup, and the Cowboys head into their game against the Eagles with an entire season on the line without their most important player.
Confidence? Belief? There has to be, despite the odds now clearly weighing against them.
We prepared good this week, especially today. We’re going to lay it all on the line and we’re going to win this one for Tony. Everybody has to raise their game up just a little bit more. We kind of had that mindset that he might not be able to go. Kyle’s going to step in there. He’s a great quarterback, confident in his abilities and what he can do, confident in the play calling. It’s unfortunate. You wish Tony the best of health, but you’ve still got to step in and play and do what you can do.
Romo was hurt going into the Redskins game, but pulled off a game winning drive and played through the injury to put the Cowboys in a situation where they only need one more win to make the playoffs (ignoring how they messed up in the previous weeks for a second). Having surgery this early will mean he should be healthy enough to play in the OTAs and not miss anything substantial during preseason. However, it’s not going to cheer him up if the Cowboys lose to the Eagles without him being able to help.