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PHILADELPHIA -- It wasn't much of a return. Tony Romo was in the game for a total of seven plays (including a penalty) and threw just four passes, completing three of them for 29 yards and a touchdown. And then he returned to where he's spent most of the last two seasons -- on the sideline.
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But, even if only for a little while, Romo was back on a football field for the first time this season, and that was good enough for the Dallas Cowboys, even though they lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 27-13 on Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field.
"We didn't expect anything different, because he's that kind of guy," Cowboys wide receiver Cole Beasley said of Romo. "He's a competitor and he just went in and did what he always does."
Romo missed 12 games last season with a broken collarbone -- an injury he suffered in Philadelphia -- and then he missed the beginning of this season after injuring his back during the preseason. In the interim, rookie Dak Prescott grabbed the starting job and it appears Romo's days in Dallas could be numbered.
"I thought he did a really nice job in the game," Dallas coach Jason Garrett said. "It was a tribute to his preparation and him getting himself ready each week to play. He's obviously played a lot of football. He's comfortable in this offense. He looked comfortable out there today and made some good decisions."
One of those decisions was a 16-yard pass to wide receiver Terrance Williams on third-and-12. Another was a 3-yard TD pass to Williams that gave Dallas a 10-3 lead.
But even though his teammates were lavish in their praise of the veteran quarterback, Romo did his best to downplay his return to game action.
"I've always been someone that thinks that how you practice is how you play," Romo said. "I've been practicing pretty well, so it kind of just carried over from practice. ... You get those same feelings and competitive vibes. I know there are more people watching, but I treat them all the same."
While Romo got his most playing time of the season, Prescott played his fewest snaps -- the rookie played the first two series of the game and then sat down for the rest of the afternoon. But even though Prescott wanted to play more, he enjoyed seeing the veteran Romo in action.
"It was fun to watch," Prescott said. "It was easy for him, just as it has been his entire career. Being able to watch a guy play quarterback that I grew up watching, that was a good moment."
Even the guys on the other side of the line of scrimmage were impressed with Romo's cameo appearance.
"He didn't look any different to me," Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham said. "That man has been a great quarterback in this league for a long time and, to me, it didn't look like he's lost anything because of the injuries or because of his age. I know he wasn't out there for long, but he was out there long enough to look like Tony Romo again."
