The NFL’s sole offering on Christmas Day will be the Dallas Cowboys visiting the Arizona Cardinals, a game between two teams that could be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention at the time.
But in news that could make the game slightly more interesting, the Star-Telegram reports that Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo could make his return on December 25.
“He’s in early,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said of Romo. “He’s in that training room at 7 a.m. every morning. And he’s in our meetings. Once we go out on the practice field they have a whole regimen for him to go through some different rehab stuff. He’s very much involved. The ideas keep coming, and he’s engaged with our football team.”
We’ve previously noted a report that Romo could be back a week before Christmas, December 19 against the Redskins, but either way, the real question is whether it makes any sense for Romo to play again this year.
At 3-7, the only way the Cowboys have any conceivable chance of being in playoff contention this season is if they win every game the rest of the way. If they do keep winning, Garrett might decide to go with the hot hand in Jon Kitna. And if they don’t keep winning, why rush Romo back from his broken collarbone just so he can play a couple of meaningless games?
So even if Romo is healthy enough to play by late December, it seems unlikely that we’ll see him again this season.