Tony Romo: Dallas Cowboys expect QB back "sooner rather than later"

DALLAS, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones watched his team lose to the New York Giants Sunday behind a rookie quarterback and a rookie running back.

Jones said after the game that his veteran quarterback could return "sooner rather than later."

"[Tony] Romo is upbeat," Jones told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "[X-rays showed] nothing that would in any way get in the area of a setback or would show concern."

The Cowboys declined to put Romo on injured reserve after he broke his back in the preseason. The move gives Romo a chance to come back before Week 9. The Cowboys have a Week 7 bye. The exact specifics of Romo's injury include a compression fracture to his L1 vertebrae.

Romo, 36, completed 83-of-121 passes for 884 yards, five touchdowns and seven interceptions last season. Reported estimates on Romo's missed time have ranged from 6 to 10 weeks.

"I don't know and don't know that anybody does," Jones told ESPN's Todd Archer earlier this month. "But it's quite a range there, four to six, six to eight, eight to (10)."

Dak Prescott, who was selected in the fourth round of April's NFL Draft, completed 25-of-45 passes for 227 yards in the Cowboys 20-19 loss to the Giants. He failed to throw a touchdown, but did not commit any turnovers.

Before Sunday's contest, NFL Network National Insider Ian Rapoport reported that Prescott could take Romo's job permanently.

"Cowboys thought: Whenever Romo returns, he returns. They're moving forward with Dak Prescott... with the door cracked slightly for Romo's job," Rapoport tweeted.