Tony Romo continues to edge closer toward a potential return for the Dallas Cowboys.
Romo was a full participant in practice Wednesday and Thursday for the Cowboys. Before his first full practice session Wednesday since suffering a preseason back injury, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett told reporters that the veteran quarterback would work with the scout team and do some individual drills.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported that if Romo makes it through the week of practice, he'll have completed his rehab, per a source informed of his progress. However, Rapoport reported Thursday that Romo isn't expected to be active for Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
"We just have to see where he is," Garrett said before Wednesday's practice. "Tony's practiced four days over the last couple of weeks and has been involved in part of practices on each of those days. We'll do something similar with him today. He'll start in individuals and see how he does. He'll be working some scout-team reps like he did last week.
"We'll just take the situation day-by-day. We have a number of guys who are injured on the team, and that's what we do ... We will evaluate his situation day-by-day."
Dak Prescott will get all the work with the first-team offense.
Quarterbacks working with the scout team -- as we saw with Alex Smith last week in Kansas City -- generally don't play on Sunday.
However, the path for Romo's return is escalating.
Romo getting healthy doesn't mean he'll vault back into the starting lineup. Owner Jerry Jones has repeatedly stated that the team will ride the hot hand. Prescott has led the Cowboys (7-1) to seven straight victories. When Romo is healthy, the decision to dress Romo as a backup or bench a stud rookie will fall on Garrett's shoulders.
