National Football League

Romo's back issues a bigger concern after sub-par performance

Published Nov. 27, 2014 9:35 p.m. ET

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Of all the ugly images from Thursday's 33-10 loss to the Eagles, the one that should scare Cowboys fans most is that of a Tony Romo pass falling like a wounded fowl and landing well short of its target.

That happened several times in the second half of a game that was expected to be the toughest test yet for Romo's surgically repaired back.

The Sunday-Thursday turnaround may have been too much for Romo as his passes sailed like weak pop-ups late in the game. He looked like someone who didn't have the arm strength to make the throws the plays called for.

The bigger concern, long-term, is that Romo's weakened back can't stand up to the wear and tear of a season that's now 12 games old -- we haven't even gotten to December yet.

In the short term, whatever the reason, Romo didn't look like himself as the game wore on and the Eagles' pressure took its toll. Romo was sacked four times and eventually started to go down in the face of pressure rather than try one of his patented escape moves.

After the game, Romo deflected any suggestions that his effectiveness was impaired by the quick turnaround.

"There's no excuses," Romo said. "They [the Eagles] made things a little bit tougher. I missed a couple of throws that I normally won't miss. I'll be better at that the rest of the year, I know that for sure."

Romo may have said that because he won't play two games in five days the rest of the year. His back will get a full week of rest from now on.

Romo has been taking Wednesdays off from practice all season to save some of the wear and tear on his spine, which underwent disk surgery last December. It was Romo's second back surgery within a year -- he also had a cyst removed that caused him to miss all of the 2013 offseason work.

With the short turnaround this week, Romo didn't have the luxury of taking a day off before facing the Eagles. He did miss Monday's practice -- if you can call the light walk-through the Cowboys had after playing in New York on Sunday night a practice.

"All indications all week long was that he came out of the [Sunday night] game clean," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said, "and went through the work like everybody else did this week and seemed good coming into the ballgame."

But the Cowboys, according to reports, had light practices each of the three days between games to allow the players' bodies to recover. Logically, a light practice wouldn't put the same level of stress on a back as a game would.

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Still, Romo refused to blame the quick turnaround and the practice changes it brings for his performance on Thursday. His final passing numbers were 18 of 29 for 199 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. It was his first sub-200-yard game since Week 2.

"They had a short week, too," Romo said, referring to the Eagles. "It was definitely short, just from the Sunday night game, coming from here. I don't think that that had much to do with the outcome of the game. I think that they just played better than us. They took it to us."

The bigger concern is the long-term effectiveness of  the 34-year-old Romo. His six-year, $108 million contract extension runs through 2019. The Cowboys will play Thanksgiving and other Thursday games every one of those years.

In fact, the Cowboys play their next game on a Thursday, too -- at Chicago. They won't get the "mini-bye" effect of extra days off until after that game.

"You always want more time, I know that," Romo said. "At the same time, I don't think that's an excuse. It's going to be nice after having the break after the next game, so that will be a bonus from having to play the Thursdays."

Romo was asked if he needed a pain-killing injection in order to play Thursday after the quick turnaround.

"You always are taking stuff," Romo said. "But that's not an excuse. It would be doing a disservice to the way that the Eagles played if you thought it was about something else."

Romo and his back will be scrutinized more intensely than ever after the flutterballs he threw against the Eagles. If his lack of torque on throws in late November is a sign of him wearing down and not just a side effect of the quick turnaround, the Cowboys have big problems ahead.

 "I'm going to play much better next week," Romo said. "I can promise you that."

Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire

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