Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo made what amounted to a cameo in Saturday's 20-7 loss in Dallas, leaving with a right hand injury during the first quarter. With a Week 17 game against the New York Giants to decide the NFC East looming next week, the Cowboys were in no rush to put Romo back in against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Romo was injured during the first drive of the game when he hit his right throwing hand on a defender's helmet after a throw. He was brought to the locker room to have his hand evaluated and returned to the sideline where he tried to throw. Romo threw a few wobbly warm-up passes, spoke to a trainer, then got his wrist wrapped. The back of his hand appeared very swollen.
"I'll be fine," said Romo, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I think I just took a hit to the helmet. We're going to be all right, though. ... I think it's just going to be a few days, do all the stuff [in rehab], but I'll be good to go next week."
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett confirmed to reporters that X-rays of Romo's hand were negative.
"The biggest issue is gripping the ball, taking the snap, and all the things that go along with the position," Garrett said. "We just have to see how it responds."
Romo was replaced by Stephen McGee to start the team's second series. The Cowboys don't have another quarterback on the active roster, and Garrett indicated Romo could have returned in an emergency situation.
"Tony wanted to get in there and play, but he understood the decision," said Garrett.
The Cowboys made a similar decision with running back Felix Jones, who didn't play after the team's second series.
"I feel like we dodged a bullet," owner Jerry Jones said. "That we got Romo healthy, that's critical to us. We came out of here, relatively speaking, real healthy. I think that's good for us."
Garrett said left guard Montrae Holland suffered an elbow injury and linebacker Sean Lee "tweaked" his hamstring, but he didn't think that injury was very serious.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
