Cowboys to keep Tony Romo on active roster

The Dallas Cowboys made a big decision that indicates their level of confidence in Tony Romo’s recovery from a back injury.

According to ESPN’s Todd Archer, the Cowboys will keep Romo on their active roster to open the season.

The Cowboys could have placed Romo on injured reserve, which would have given the team an extra roster spot to use while Romo recovers from his fractured back. Players on IR cannot begin practicing until six weeks after being placed on injured reserve. They also cannot play in a game until eight weeks later.

Had the Cowboys placed Romo on IR, he wouldn’t have been eligible to play until Nov. 6 at Cleveland, which is Week 9.

By keeping Romo on the active roster, the Cowboys are hoping Romo can return in October.

The placement of the Cowboys’ bye week makes things tricky. Dallas has a bye in Week 7, which gives Romo an extra week to recover. But the question is will he be ready to play in Week 6 on Oct. 16 against the Packers? If not, then they will hope he can play in Week 8 against the Eagles.

If Romo is not ready until Week 8, then that means the Cowboys will have used an extra roster spot on Romo for the first six games of the season just so they can have him play in one extra game (they would get him back in Week 9 if he were placed on IR).

It’s a gamble, but apparently Dallas feels it’s worthwhile.

In the meantime, the Cowboys will open the season with rookie Dak Prescott starting at quarterback and the newly-signed Mark Sanchez backing him up.