Tony Romo will get his warmup.
The most talked about backup quarterback in football is expected to play on Sunday against the Eagles, sources informed of the situation told NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. Romo successfully lobbied to play a series or two, Rapoport added, and he'll likely enter the game following Dak Prescott's start. Both Romo and Mark Sanchez are expected to play.
Romo is officially active for Sunday's game, and team owner Jerry Jones confirm there's a chance the veteran QB will play.
"We will see how this game goes," Jones said. "We will have to play the flow of this game and if the wind flows right you'd like to see him out there with as minimum risk as possible."
As Rapoport pointed out, the team is still trying to figure out how Romo's season debut for the team will exactly work out:
ESPN first reported the development.
The Cowboys had Romo take almost no snaps in practice Wednesday before he saw a slight increase Thursday, according to Rapoport.
Romo has not taken any live snaps since late August, when he injured his back in a preseason contest with the Seattle Seahawks. Since then, the story is well known. Rookie fourth-round pick Prescott came on in relief and led Dallas to a 13-2 record and the No. 1 seed in the NFC. His 68 percent completion rate and exceptionally high touchdown-to-interception ratio (23-to-4) have placed him firmly in the conversation for rookie of the year alongside running back Ezekiel Elliott.
Romo has been a good soldier in the background. After a heartfelt concession speech in mid-November upon his return, Romo has been largely silent; a cheerleader and mentor for Prescott as he continues to win games.
The move answers a few lingering questions raised by Romo's return. Most notably, would he prefer to play in mop-up time and get the game reps? Or, is he confident enough in his ability to allow Sanchez to clean up the remainder of the regular season?
Romo has not played in an NFL regular-season game since Nov. 26, 2015.
Coach Jason Garrett's dilemma was thought of as a no-win situation for weeks. Should he keep Prescott in and get him injured, he would be responsible for harpooning Dallas' best shot at a Super Bowl in years. Should he play Romo, he would stand accused of robbing Prescott of valuable in-game experience. Though Prescott has shown an incredible maturity and poise for his age, there are still many different weapons opposing defenses have not used against him yet.
This seems like the best-case scenario. So long as Romo's pride is not hurt by entering a meaningless game after the man who stole his job, there is really nothing to debate. There's likely nothing Romo will do in a few quarters that will muddle the opinion of Prescott. He has already proven that having a Pro Bowl quarterback looking over Prescott's shoulders does not faze him.
