Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is being fit for a back brace and rookie fourth-round pick Dak Prescott is preparing not only preparing to start opening day but for at least the first six weeks of the season.
Yet, coach Jason Garrett still says Romo is day to day with a fractured bone in his back and refuses to publicly rule him out for the Sept. 11 opener against the New York Giants.
"Yeah, again, like with every player on our team, we'll take the situation day by day," Garrett said. "Tony has a broken bone in his back. It's a fracture. We've gotten a lot of different timetables for when he can return. We also know he's played with a broken bone in his back before, so there is no reason for me to stand up here and put a timetable on this. I think a lot of that is people outside of this building have suggested what the timetable is. That's not the world we live in. We live in the world of day by day, do what you can to get yourself better and we'll update you as we go."
Garrett does acknowledge that today and for the near future Romo will be wearing a brace to support the L1 compression fracture in his back.
"He just going to start getting into rehab and part of his rehab is he's going to be wearing a back brace for now,'' Garrett said. "So you'll see him around wearing that."
Garrett said the moral of the Cowboys was good and the news of Romo being out for a significant time wasn't deflating. Yet, he did have to call the Cowboys together before practice Sunday to up their intensity after the conditioning coaches admonished the team to wake up.
"I think the biggest thing for all of us is focus on doing our jobs," Garrett said. "That's players and that's coaches. Adversity is a part of the game. Injuries are a part of the game. You come to work the next day and you put the next guy in there and if everyone will focus on doing their job, that's the best way to create a good environment for someone who's coming in to play. Everybody focus on doing their job and I think our team understands that."
