IRVING, Texas -- Tony Romo will take part in practice on Wednesday, but he will not take away any team snaps from Matt Cassel this week as the Dallas Cowboys prepare for the Philadelphia Eagles.
“Matt will get the work this week with the ones,” Garrett said. “We’re just talking about getting Tony some work in individual work, throwing the ball, maybe the scout team seven-on-seven. We haven’t firmed any of that up yet, but that’s what the preliminary discussions have been.”
Romo has been throwing lightly on the side for the past two weeks as he comes back from a broken collarbone suffered in the Cowboys' win against the Eagles on Sept. 20. Dallas placed him on the injured reserve/designated to return list on Sept. 22.
In all likelihood he will continue to throw on the side during practice and work through his rehab and conditioning this week. This is the first week he is eligible to return to practice. He can return to game action on Nov. 22 against the Miami Dolphins.
The Cowboys will ramp up Romo’s work depending on how he feels, and he could take some team snaps next week.
The Cowboys are mindful of taking snaps away from Cassel because he needs as much work as possible to become more comfortable with the offense after arriving in a trade from Buffalo on Sept. 23.
“We’ll get into that as we go but we’re trying to win the ballgame this week,” Garrett said. “That’s what our focus is.”
The Cowboys are 0-5 without Romo, with Brandon Weeden starting three games and Cassel the past two. Romo opened the season completing 54 of 72 passes for 551 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions in the first two games.
Romo has received favorable news regarding the bone scans the past few weeks that show the collarbone healing. It is the second time in six seasons he has broken his left collarbone. He missed the final 10 games of the 2010 season.
After Sunday’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Romo said he would talk at some point this week.
"You can tell he's got pep in his step,” tight end Jason Witten said. “He's excited to get back. I know he's working hard to do everything he can so when he does come back he'll be able to play at a high level. He's been through this before. He'll work hard to get back. We still got a while to do that but I know we're getting close."