National Football League

Cowboys coach confident Romo will play Thursday

Published Nov. 23, 2009 10:24 p.m. ET

foxsports

Defensive end Marcus Spears lounged on a couch in the middle of the Dallas Cowboys locker room, his right leg draped over the side. Quarterback Tony Romo wasn't anywhere to be seen. Romo wasn't in the locker room when it was open to reporters Monday, when the Cowboys began preparing for a quick turnaround in part by trying to stay off their feet like Spears. But coach Wade Phillips said he is confident the quarterback will be ready to play Thursday despite the soreness from taking a knee to the back. "We've already talked to Tony and he says he feels a lot better. .... He had a little bit of stiffness. He had quite a bit during the ball game, but says he feels a lot better," Phillips said, adding there are no plans to rest Romo. "Not if he's ready to play. And we think he will be." With only three days between their 7-6 victory Sunday over Washington and kickoff on Thanksgiving Day against Oakland, the NFC East-leading Cowboys (7-3) will work more mentally than physically. That alone will help Romo recover. Romo got hurt when he took a knee to the middle of the back 7 minutes into the game. He got it making what was possibly a touchdown-saving tackle on DeAngelo Hall, who was returning a fumble after Marion Barber lost the ball near the Redskins 10. Romo didn't miss a snap and later completed seven consecutive passes on the game-winning drive, the last a 10-yard touchdown to Patrick Crayton with 2:41 left. He had only eight completions before that drive. The offense has managed only a late touchdown in each of its last two games. Before Romo's TD pass to beat the Redskins and avoid being held scoreless at home for the first time since 1991, the Cowboys had to score in the final minute at Green Bay the previous week to avoid being shut out. Dallas was averaging 27 points a game before that. "If it's five weeks, that's one thing. It's two weeks," Phillips said. "We had a long drive early and we gave up the football, we missed a field goal. We left 10 points out there pretty quick. ... I think things are correctible." On their second drive against the Redskins, the Cowboys drove to the 16 before Barber's fumble on the play that Romo got hurt. Nick Folk missed a 46-yard field goal attempt just before halftime that would have tied the game. "Hopefully, it will get better. All you can do is keep working at it," said Crayton, whose only catch Sunday was the touchdown. As for Romo, he had a shot for his pain after the game Sunday, when he walked gingerly but said then that he "definitely will be playing" against the Raiders (3-7). "Certainly he was affected by getting kicked or hit in the back," Phillips said. "He really came through at the end. Whatever it was, he showed enough grit at the end to overcome it. That was impressive." Yet, there is no time to look back at the Redskins and Romo's late heroics. "I've gone past the game. I'm thinking of Oakland and all those things," Phillips said. "It's not a typical Monday obviously." Phillips said workouts were at a "more walkthrough tempo" and that it would be similar Tuesday. The Cowboys will get an extended weekend off after playing Oakland before getting into December, when Dallas has faltered in recent years. There was the 1-3 mark last December, when the Cowboys missed the playoffs by one game a year after going 2-2 down the stretch after a 11-1 start before losing its only postseason game. They begin this December at the New York Giants, then play their only home game of the month against AFC West leader San Diego. Then come trips to undefeated New Orleans and Washington before finishing the regular season at home Jan. 3 against Philadelphia. "We know we've got to start picking it up. Not just for our fans, but for ourselves too," Crayton said. "It's going to be good for us to come out Thursday and be sharp and be crisp. It's got to look like we are really doing something out there."