Romo has Scare on First Drive, Held Out of Game

Tony Romo’s preseason has ended about as abruptly as it began. The Dallas Cowboys quarterback, who has virtually been placed in bubble wrap for all of training camp and preseason so far, attempted only one pass on Thursday against the Seattle Seahawks before walking off the field with an apparent back injury.

After rehabbing a pair of severe collarbone injuries last year, Romo expressed enough confidence in his health to run with the starters in this week’s proverbial “dress rehearsal” before the regular season starts.

As he began to scramble on a broken play, Romo opted to slide right at the line of scrimmage but couldn’t get down in time.

Seattle pass rusher Cliff Avril was pursuing from behind. In an attempt to swing an arm over Romo’s shoulder and knock the ball free, Avril landed awkwardly on his victim, seemingly compressing Romo’s spine between his neck and tailbone as the embattled quarterback lay writhing in agony. You can check out the painful footage here: https://twitter.com/NFL/status/768996727403651072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Thankfully, Romo was able to leave the field of his own accord, but was not present on the Cowboys sideline by the start of the second half and the franchise has yet to divulge a timetable for his return.

Head coach Jason Garrett called the injury minor, but did not want to risk throwing his QB back out there in an ultimately meaningless game. The moment was a stressful one to say the least for Dallas fans, who witnessed the team bumble through a motza of awful backup plans in Romo’s absence last year, en route to a 4-12 finish.

Taking Romo’s place was energising rookie Dak Prescott. For the third week in a row, Prescott enjoyed an efficient, turnover-free performance, throwing for 116 yards and a touchdown before he called it a night, too.

Make no mistake: despite Prescott’s impressive showings, Cowboys supporters will be thrilled to see him not take a single snap in the regular season. The only chance this team has of making waves in the playoffs is with a healthy Romo, but everyone involved has to be feeling immensely more comfortable with this season’s plan B.