The Details Of Tony Romo’s Latest Injury, Which Had Jerry Jones ‘In Shock’

Heading into the 2016 season, the Dallas Cowboys’ chances once again seem to hinge on the health of Tony Romo. They have the potential for an extraordinary offense with ace rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott behind an outstanding offensive line, and their defense should be good enough under wizardly defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli. But when Romo missed 12 games last year with collarbone injuries, they imploded and wound up with a top-five draft pick (hence, Elliott).

So when Romo finished up a play during Thursday night’s preseason game against the Seahawks like this, you can imagine the anguished gasps of Cowboys fans everywhere:

Collarbones may have been Romo’s bugaboo last year (he had a plate inserted in offseason surgery to deal with that), but he also has previously had two back injuries, one of which required surgery, so an awkward hit like the one he took was enough to petrify even Jerry Jones:

Luckily, it seems to have been a false alarm. Romo says it’s not serious, and that he lobbied to get back into the game later (which, of course, was never going to happen in the preseason).

“Whenever you take a hit, that was a perfect timed situation,” Romo said. “I was going into a slide. But in a weird way, I feel good about the fact that was probably as tough of a hit I’ve taken on the back as I’ve had in the last five years. From that regard, I feel very lucky that it can hold up and I can keep going.”

Both Jones and head coach Jason Garrett insist that the injury was not serious, and no X-rays were taken on Thursday night, but Dallas will give Tony a precautionary MRI on Friday just to make sure. Now that this storm has passed, who’s excited to hold their breath every time Romo gets sacked this season?

(Via ESPN)