[Underdog]

Romo Not Giving Up On Playing
Mickey Spagnola


Brett Favre’s call to Tony Romo, saying he actually played through a broken thumb during his career with the Green Bay Packers, put a bug in the Cowboys quarterback’s ear, and on Wednesday he evidently decided to scratch the itch.

That’s right, with the help of specially made splints and wraps courtesy of the Cowboys trainers, Romo threw before the team began practicing and I’m told he actually threw pretty well. But that does not mean the Cowboys might chance playing their Pro Bowl quarterback with the fractured right fifth metacarpal he suffered in Sunday’s game.

Initial projections have Romo missing four weeks, but evidently Romo wants to experiment with ways he might be able to still play. But there are a couple of factors to consider. First, taking the snap under center would be difficult since the ball impacts the outside of the quarterback’s hand the hardest – although I guess a QB could go shotgun the entire game to solve that.

Secondly, Romo is a wrist thrower, meaning he puts pressure on the ball with all his fingers, including the pinkie, to delivers passes. That might be painful no matter how well the finger is braced.

Thirdly, and this is what the trainers worry most about: What happens if he hits his hand on a helmet or he gets hit by a defender right on the supported finger? Or what if he falls on it again?

The fracture he sustained is a non-displaced one, meaning the spiral break already is set in place. But should he damage the finger again, he risks suffering a displaced fracture, meaning he likely would need surgery to implant a plate to support the splintered bone’s re-growth.

Maybe what happens is Romo misses one game and then seriously tries to prepare for Tampa Bay after giving the bone at least two weeks to heal. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.