Cowboys owner Jerry Jones reiterated Sunday following the team’s win over the Bengals that Tony Romo will be their starting quarterback when he’s healthy enough to return.
“Tony is our No. 1 quarterback. We’re going to have the luxury of being able to, I think, see them both,” Jones said, via NFL.com. “I don’t want to presume that Dak is going to be necessarily healthy, I don’t want to presume anything like that. But I welcome the opportunity of having Dak playing at this level and Tony back in excellent health. It’s going to be really special for the Cowboys.”
Jones added that Romo is undergoing an MRI Monday and he “expects a good report.”
Yesterday, Jason La Canfora reported the Cowboys were still planning on Romo taking over as their starting quarterback when he’s healthy enough to return from a back injury, despite the solid play of rookie Dak Prescott.
A source told La Canfora that there’s “zero chance” that Romo does not start when cleared. La Canfora mentions that the Cowboys expect their offense to expand under Romo and will be “more robust, well-rounded” unit. La Canfora did say that Prescott is viewed as the team’s quarterback of the future. However, they have been running a constricted version of their offense for Prescott.
The Cowboys and Romo are reportedly targeting a Week 8 return, which would come after their bye. As of Thursday, it was seven weeks since Romo sustained a fractured vertebra and he’s expected to ramp up his conditioning and begin throwing soon.
The Cowboys have maintained all along that Romo will be their starter once healthy, but with Prescott playing so well, it really seems like Dallas may have to reconsider giving the job back to Romo.
Romo, 36, is in the third year of his seven-year, $119.5 million contract that included $55 million guaranteed. He stands to make base salaries of $8.5 million (2016), $14 million (2017), $19.5 million (2018) and $20.5 million (2019).
In 2015, Romo threw for 884 yards while completing 68.6 percent of his passes to go along with five touchdowns and seven interceptions over the course of four games for the Cowboys.
We’ll have more regarding Romo and his return as the news is available.
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