NFL Wembley: Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo coming to London despite back injury
Tuesday 11 November 2014 15:48, UK
The Dallas Cowboys will have starting quarterback Tony Romo in London, with owner Jerry Jones hoping he can get onto the field at Wembley to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Romo was injured during Dallas’ week 8 loss to Washington, and missed all of Sunday’s damaging 28-17 defeat to the Arizona Cardinals when the offence looked totally out of sync.
Back-up Brandon Weeden played well enough when stepping in for Romo against Washington, but starting against the Cards he could muster just 183 yards and two interceptions as the Cowboys slipped to 6-3 for the season.
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Romo’s back injury will not heal any time soon, but it’s a question of mobility and pain management, and Dallas have confirmed he will be on the flight that arrives in London on Tuesday morning.
With a bye week to come after the Wembley game against the Jags, Dallas hope Romo can make it through the Wembley game before being able to rest again before the remainder of their schedule.
"I do see him playing," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told the NFL Network. "He's going on the trip to London, and logic tells you that we wouldn't have him make that trip to London and back if we didn't think he was going to play, so it does depend on the type of week he has at practice.
“But if he has the week we expect, he should be our quarterback."
Weeden struggles
Dallas may have considered leaving Romo behind in Texas had Weeden showed more signs of life, but he struggled to find his receivers all night against a flying Cards defence and their only other option is undrafted rookie Dustin Vaughan.
They will be big favourites to beat the 1-8 Jaguars but having fallen out of top spot in the ultra-competitive NFC East they will not want to take any chances in getting a seventh win on board before the bye.
Running back DeMarco Murray will likely shoulder most of the burden regardless of who is under centre, but having Romo at quarterback will just give the team a much stronger look in the passing game.
Weeden’s performance was all the more disappointing given he’s had starting experience before at Cleveland and, unlike most back-ups, gets regular practice time with the starters as Romo sits out most Wednesdays to aid his recovery.
Jones was asked after the Arizona loss about allowing former back-up Kyle Orton to leave Dallas with Romo’s injury worries – and with Orton now doing well as a starter in Buffalo.
"I don't second guess that at all because we lost games with those experienced quarterbacks, with the quarterbacks that were more experienced," said Jones. "As a matter of fact we got knocked out of the playoffs with the more experienced quarterback last year, and so I think it's all relevant."
See if Tony Romo plays as the Dallas Cowboys take on the Jacksonville Jaguars live on Sky Sports 2 HD from 5pm on Sunday.
