Tony Romo delivered a superb performance in the last couple of minutes in the Dallas Cowboys game against the San Francisco 49ers, but was it his last hurrah this season? Romo showed tenacity coming back into the game with a fractured rib, but is it possible his return doomed him for the season? Medical results revealed that his fractured rib included collateral damage – a punctured lung. This is a way more serious injury than the team or Romo is letting on – coming into a game this coming Sunday with such an injury is life-threatening.
The typical healing time for a punctured lung, assuming no complications or infections, is about eight weeks. If so, there’s no way Romo is coming back to play for Dallas any time soon; he may be out for the rest of the season. Medical expert opinion is that the puncture is small enough to spontaneously close and heal within a few days. Given no other complications, like an excess amount of air escaping the puncture and building up in his chest cavity, he could be back for Monday night’s game. Spontaneously close? No complications? This doesn’t sound like the kind of luck football players have been having this year – Romo’s out for at least a week, maybe more.
So what happens with Dallas now? They lost their first season game with Romo and barely battled back at the end to win the game against the 49ers. Backup quarterback Jon Pitna comes in. The Colts haven’t done particularly well with their backup quarterback, and you can expect the same with the Cowboys. Mark up another loss or two for Dallas.