On the first of two-days off for the Dallas Cowboys, owner and general manager Jerry Jones is starting to provide a bit of cover for severely injured quarterback Tony Romo. Romo, who has a fractured rib, a punctured/collapsed lung and chance to be the NFL QB of the week, is one of several banged-up Cowboys heading into the Monday night slugest against the Washington Redskins.
"I don't know," Jones said. "I really don't. I understand the nature of the injury as much as you can without being in medicine. We'll just have to see how it goes. It has everything to do with just his ability to handle the pain, and we know he has a bunch of it."
-- Star Telegram
Jones stance is a much more candid response than Jason Garrett's "I don't think there's any reason to think" proclamation on Monday about Romo's inability to play on Monday. Following the revelation that the lung was punctured, every expert available was tapped to speak on the intelligence of letting Romo back in the game.
To recap, most NFL stadium's only have X-Ray machines on hand for instant analysis. If Romo's holey lung was more pronounced, it reportedly could have been caught. It was so miniscule, however, that the only thing apparent was a little ol' fracture. The team learned of the small leak once it returned to Dallas and he underwent a CT scan.
ESPN's Stephania Bell mentioned that if the puncture was serious, Romo would have most likely experienced complications from the pressure of flying. Not scared of heights pressure, air pressure.
There always exists the possibility of the injury worsening with contact to the same region, but if Romo's pain threshold is truly the determining factor, expect Romo to give it a go come Monday night. Whether or not he can finish the game is another story. One thing is certain, Romo's comeback and the subsequent comeback victory sure has pumped air in the lungs of Cowboys Nation after having to hold their collective breaths for 63 minutes on Sunday.
We can only hope that air allows them to be as loud and boisterous in Cowboys Stadium as was the contingent in San Francisco on Sunday.
