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Quarterback Tony Romo, who missed the entire season after suffering a back injury in the preseason and then being demoted in favor of rookie sensation Dak Prescott, is expected to play in Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Prescott will start and Romo and Mark Sanchez are expected to play but it has not been determined how long they will do so, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
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The rotation appears to be a change in plans for the Cowboys, who previously indicated they would not risk an injury to Romo in a meaningless Week 17 game on the road to end the regular season.
The Cowboys, who previously wrapped up the NFC East title and the top seed for the NFC playoffs, are expected to limit Prescott's minutes.
All three quarterbacks took snaps in Thursday's practice, but coach Jason Garrett has not announced the rotation.
"We haven't decided how that's going," Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said Thursday. "Jason will I'm sure give you more information as we get closer to the game, but right now guys are just getting ready to play and get ready to play as well as we can on Sunday."
The 36-year-old Romo is now fully recovered from his back injury that opened the door for Prescott to become the starter. Romo has not played in a regular-season game since a loss to the Carolina Panthers on Thanksgiving last year when he suffered a broken left collarbone for the second time in the 2015 season.
Romo suffered a compression fracture in his back in the Aug. 25 preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks that forced the Cowboys to start Prescott.
Prescott is nearing the end of a stellar rookie campaign, winning 13 of 15 games while completing 68.1 percent of his passes for 3,630 yards and 23 touchdowns with four interceptions. His 105.7 passer rating ranks third in the NFL. Prescott needs one more win to set an NFL record for wins in a season by a rookie quarterback.
Sanchez's season statistics consist of one pass, an 8-yard completion against the Cleveland Browns on Nov. 6. He was in for eight snaps, two of them kneel-downs to complete a 35-10 win. He has been inactive for the past six games with Romo serving as Prescott's backup.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said earlier in the week it is not worth putting Romo at risk during a meaningless game.
"I hear this stuff about rust," Jones told 105.3 The Fan. "Well, Romo doesn't look rusty at practice, I'll tell you that. He's out there practicing against some pretty good guys. Romo has had huge numbers of experience, he's seen everything that an NFL defense can throw at him. And so you don't have to worry about the number of repetitions. All of that said, it's better not to have a risk with him and to keep him available to us during the playoff."
