Orakpo: Romo injury overblown. (US PRESSWIRE)

Posted by Ryan Wilson

A week ago, a punctured lung and broken ribs couldn't keep Tony Romo from leading the Cowboys to an overtime win over the 49ers. On Monday night, Romo's legend grew with another gutsy performance against NFC East rival Washington.

But not everybody is impressed with Romo's threshold for pain. Take, for example, Redskins linebacker Brian Orakpo, who addressed the matter Tuesday during an appearance on John Thompson's radio show (quotes via the Sports Bog's Dan Steinberg).

“To me they blown it way out of proportion,” Orakpo said. “I mean, they tried to make it seem like the guy was hospitalized the night before the game, just so we could build it up if they was to win the game — oh he’s a courageous player to go out there and play. The guy was playing just like Tony Romo, running around, making throws. He got hit throughout the whole game and still getting up. I mean, it was blown way out of proportion, but it is what it is.”

Orakpo sounded even more perplexed at how Romo avoided a single turnover despite center Phil Costa's predilection for horribly mistimed snaps.

“I mean, Romo got some type of lucky charm in his back pocket,” Orakpo said. “Because it seemed like every time the ball was on the floor, he was able to scoop it up, not fumbling one time, scoop it up and pick it up and try to at least make a play. Very unfortunate for us. I mean, I’m so disappointed in the outcome. We left a lot on the table. We could have easily won that game.”

To be fair, the reason for the four botched snaps was because the Redskins were, you know, cheating. Surprised Orakpo didn't mention that during his diatribe.

Then again, Orakpo doesn't take issue with DeAngelo Hall's f-bomb-tastic post-game tirade, noting that Hall wishes "he could take it back, but I don’t blame him. He’s already a hothead, so why would you put a camera in his face?"

That's a fair point.

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'Skins D didn't do Cowboys C Phil Costa any favors. (AP)

Posted by Ryan Wilson

It's taken less than two weeks, but Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has gone from perennial choker to the toughest guy in football (apologies to Michael Vick, who just can't seem to get a call).

Romo showed that again Monday when he faced a non-stop assault from the Redskins defense, and he got very little help from his center, Phil Costa, who seemed incapable of delivering the ball to his quarterback on the snap count (you can watch in horror here).

After the fourth miscue we just figured it was some elaborate Benny Hill comedy sketch (stranger things have happen) because there's no way a professional athlete having played football most of his life would continually struggle with one of the most basic acts in the game.

Turns out, Costa's troubles were due to one thing: the Redskins were cheating. Specifically, Washington simulated Romo's snap count.

After the game Romo said, "We've got to get the snap thing worked out. Costa said the D-line kept calling out the snap count. We'll get that worked out. We'll tell the league and see if that's something that can be fixed because you're not supposed to be able to do that. So we'll see. But we can't have that happen. We shouldn't have been in that situation."

Costa, for his part, didn't point fingers. “There’s no blaming the refs. It’s on me.”

According to NFL rules, it's illegal for defensive players to mimic the quarterback's cadence in an attempt to confuse the offense. We look forward to DeAngelo Hall's measured take on the matter.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

For a guy who made such a big proclamation about going after Tony Romo’s ribcage and Felix Jones’ shoulder, for a guy who can talk such a big game, Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall didn’t make much of an impact in the Redskins 18-16 loss to the Cowboys on Monday night.

He had six tackles, tied for second-most on the team, but the biggest play of the night featuring Hall was when Romo scrambled on a third-and-21 in the fourth quarter and found Dez Bryant open for the first down. Guess who covered Bryant on that play? Hall. Guess the other mistake Hall made on that play? Yep, he tackled Bryant, in part, by grabbing his facemask to earn a 15-yard penalty.

Now, should Hall be blamed totally on the play that extended the Cowboys game-winning drive? No, because it’s nearly impossible to blanket a receiver in coverage for that long during the course of a play. But for Hall, who made such a big announcement before the game and then did next to nothing in it, he looked rather foolish.

Yet, that didn’t stop him for blasting the referees and the Redskins gameplan in the locker room afterward, especially on that game-losing series when defensive coordinator Jim Haslett continued to dial up all-out blitzes, leaving his corners in single coverage.

CBS Washington has the audio of Hall’s comments, and it’s clear Hall feels outraged by the game’s result. And by the play-call that preceded his burning.

“Sooner or later, somebody is  going to f------ figure it out,” Hall said. “You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to f------ figure it out.”

For the record, Shanahan defended the play-call, saying, "We had a chance to have a sack there. (Romo) did a good job scrambling and made a play. It happens. That's the nature of the game. It didn't work."

Hall also had some words of wisdom for the official who penalized him for the facemask call that added 15 yards onto the end of Bryant’s 30-yard reception.

“It was a f------ terrible call,” Hall said. “I told the ref that he was going to f------ lose his job. I told him that might be the worst call of the game. He’s going to get some demerit points for that call. That wasn’t no facemask, man.”

Except that replays (and in the photo above) showed Hall clearly grabbed, even if for just a split-second, Bryant’s facemask in the process of bringing him down to the turf.

But the facemask hardly matters in the scope of Hall’s performance. Hall made some big plans before the game, and he failed to deliver. Not just in hurting Romo and Jones and/or knocking them out of the game.

But in failing to make a positive impact whatsoever.

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Posted by Will Brinson

There's really no reason why the Cowboys were able to beat Washington 18-16 on Monday night. OK, there is one reason: Tony Romo, who simply refused to lose for the second-straight week, despite dealing with a serious injury and protective padding.

It was pretty obvious that Romo was still dealing with a substantial amount of pain with his ribs and lung, and he admitted as much afterwards.

"It was a little hard because you took some shots," Romo said after the game about dealing with the pain. "I thought the shot would work but it wore off a little bit. The guys battled hard, it was a hard, hard game."

What was surprising was that the Redskins didn't seem capable of figuring out Dallas pretty obvious gameplan, which featured a pile of short passes, a decent dose of Felix Jones, a bad red-zone plan that resulted in six Cowboys field goals, and an inability to get center Phil Costa on the same page as his quarterback.

The final item should have done Dallas in on Monday -- Costa posted three fumbles from the center position and probably should have been credited with more, as he hit Romo with more bad snaps than number of times Dan Bailey put the ball through the uprights. No, literally. He might have had double-digit snaps misfired Romo's way, as the Redskins apparently knew how to throw him off.

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"Costa said [the Redskins] kept calling out the [snap] cadence so we'll get it fixed," Romo said. "Can't have that happen."

No, you can't. A better-prepared team doesn't put themselves in that spot, but if Washington had brought its A-game, they would have closed out the Cowboys and wouldn't have let a third-and-21 from Romo to Dez Bryant with just over two minutes remaining result in Bailey's sixth field gaol and a final lead.

Instead, Rex Grossman pulled off the Jekyll and Hyde act we've come to know from him over the course of his career.

"You either find a way to win or you don't," Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said after the game.

The Redskins couldn't find a way to win and the Cowboys somehow managed to overcome a terrible set of circumstances -- bad wide receiver routes, Phil Costa, Phil Costa, bad wide receiver routes and Phil Costa -- to emerge victorious for the second time this season.

"This isn't about one person or two people," Romo said. "This is a team effort."

That's a nice thing to say, but it's not exactly true. The win on Monday was a result of Romo stepping up in the face of injury without any help from his teammates, managed to survive a Redskins defense that was prepared to literally assault his body with an intention of doing physical harm and made plays when he needed to give the Cowboys a win.


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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

Like many people expected, Tony Romo is active for tonight’s game vs. the Redskins and is set to start, but he’s probably going to have to prepare for some more pain.

According to ESPN, Romo warmed up with receiver Jesse Holley a few hours before kickoff (he wasn’t wearing his flak jacket apparently). Afterward, Romo told Ed Werder that he thinks his velocity will be fine once he takes a pain-killing injection for his fractured rib after Dallas finishes its warmups.

Now, all he has to do is watch out for Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall, who vowed to target Romo’s midsection.

But just for good measure, we’ll show you again how the flak jacket that’s protecting Romo’s ribs can help deter torso shots. That is, if somebody took a baseball bat to Romo’s chest.



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Posted by Will Brinson

Last week, Tony Romo ended up needing to play through a pair of broken ribs and a punctured lung -- don't worry, it's healed! -- in order to give the Cowboys a victory of the 49ers.
Victory will be more difficult to come by this week, if you listen to DeAngelo Hall anyway, because Romo's lung will be targeted by the Washington defense.

In a counter to the Redskins willingness to talk dirty and play tough, Dallas is suiting up Romo in some protective padding Monday, Charley Casserly of CBS Sports reported Sunday afternoon.

Casserly went one further than just handing out the information though -- he brought a piece of the padding to The NFL Today set, and obviously, the only way we could test this technology was by letting Dan Marino hit Boomer Esiason with a baseball bat. (This actually happens. Click play below.)


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Romo, Bryant and Jones are all questionable ... and all should play Monday night. (US PRESSWIRE)

Posted by Ryan Wilson

Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who was limited in practice Saturday, has been listed as questionable on the injury report two days before Dallas hosts Washington on Monday night. In general, "questionable" means there's a 50 percent chance a player participates in the game, although it appears like Romo's chances of taking the field against the Redskins are much higher than that.

Whatever the exact probabilities, it's welcome news given that he suffered a punctured lung six days ago against the 49ers. That has since healed, although Romo still has a broken rib which will necessitate him wearing a protective vest against the Redskins.

Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant, who suffered a quadriceps injury in the Week 1 loss to the Jets and missed last week's 49ers game, is listed as questionable, too. Bryant was limited in practice Saturday but, like Romo, it looks like he'll play Monday, even if he's not completely healthy.

Romo's other go-to wide receiver, Miles Austin, has been ruled out after suffering a hamstring injury during overtime of the San Francisco game. (Other Cowboys ruled out: guard Derrick Dockery, cornerback Orlando Scandrick.)

Running back Felix Jones (separated shoulder) is also questionable, but like Romo and Bryant, also expected to play.

In other injury-related news: cornerback Terence Newman (groin) is listed as probable and should see his first action of the 2011 season. Other Cowboys with a 75 percent chance to play: cornerback Mike Jenkins (shoulder), linebacker Anthony Spencer (shoulder), center Phil Costa (knee) and guard Bill Nagy (neck).

For completeness, the Redskins injury report:

Questionable: S LaRon Landry, FB Mike Sellers, S DeJon Gomes and FB Darrel Young. All were limited in practice.

Probable: CB Josh Wlson, KR/PR Brandon Banks, TE Chris Cooley, LB Keyaron Fox, CB DeAngelo Hall, CB Josh Wilson and TE Logan Paulsen. All participated in the full practice.

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It looks like Tony Romo will play. Will DeAngelo Hall be ready? (Getty Images/US PRESSWIRE)

Posted by Ryan Wilson

The punctured lung Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo suffered during an overtime win over the 49ers last Sunday has healed, sources tell ESPNDallas.com's Calvin Watkins. This is the latest confirmation of what most people suspected anyway: Romo will be on the field Monday night when the Cowboys host the Redskins in Jerry Dome's season opener.

Romo still has a fractured rib and as recently as Thursday, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was noncommittal about his quarterback's chances to play this week.

"Tony certainly had his examination [Thursday] and everything is on go as we would hoped it would be and expected it to be relative to his lung status," Jones said on ESPN's NFL 32. "That still doesn't necessarily mean he's going to play Monday night, but still that's on go. …

"He threw around a few balls today but that was it. He really didn't practice," Jones continued. "So we'll ease up on him here this week. He'll have the game plan and a feel for what we want to do out there and we'll see how it is when we get to game day."

The Associated Press reports that Romo wasn't on the field at the start of Cowboys' practice Friday, giving backup quarterback Jon Kitna another day of work with the starters. Romo hasn't practiced since leading Dallas to a comeback win over the 49ers on Sunday.

Coach Jason Garrett hasn't said whether Romo must practice before playing against Washington; the Cowboys have another practice Saturday and a walkthrough Sunday.

Still, barring a setback, there's no reason to believe that Romo won't be under center. "I fully expect him to play," Kitna said.

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This must make DeAngelo Hall very happy. The Redskins cornerback said earlier this week that he plans to target Romo's ribs.

"Absolutely. I want to get a chance to put my helmet on whatever's hurt," Hall said. "Romo's ribs -- I'm going to be asking for some corner blitzes. If I know Felix Jones' shoulder's hurt, I'm not going to cut him. I'm definitely going to try to hit him up high, so that's just part of it. If you know something's wrong with an opponent, you're going to try to target in on that. We're going to try to definitely get as many hats on that team as possible."

This prompted CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman to point out that Hall is an idiot. And ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth, no doubt stifling uncontrollable laughter as the words left his mouth, offered this: “That’s the first time you’re ever going to hit anybody. Good for you. That’s great. That’s awesome."

Schlereth continued: “You know, it’s funny, the further you get away from the football, the more talking goes on, right? Receivers and cornerbacks always seem to be getting into these verbal battles, and they’re the only guys that never actually hit anybody. So good for you. You know what, we’re all looking forward to you going out there and dispensing justice. I can’t wait to watch it.”

Perhaps Hall can take some lessons in humility from Cowboys wide receiver Jesse Holley, who hooked up with Romo for the 77-yard pass play in San Francisco that set up the winning field goal. Holley appeared on ESPN Radio Dallas earlier this week to talk about the catch and his his NFL journey (via SportsRadioInterviews.com).

"Just three years ago I was working security from 11 at night until 7 in the morning and selling cell phones in the day time. To be on stage at Candlestick Park, Cowboys and 49ers, making a key play to help your team get a victory, that’s … you can’t write that up. … It really shows if you continue to be faithful and obedient and work hard that good things will happen to you."

As for what Holley told Romo on the sidelines before The Play, it's pretty simple:

“The whole time he is talking I am over talking him saying ‘I’m ready. I’m ready. I’m ready.’ He’s going ‘I know. I know, but on the…’ I said ‘I am ready. I am ready.’ I kept telling him and I said in my head ‘I am ready.’ …

"When we got on the plane I asked him [Tony Romo] about that particular play because he called a play in the huddle that wasn’t the play call that coach Garrett called in the headset. I asked him ‘What made you change the play?’ He said well you told me that you were ready? I felt like you had one in you, so I changed it.”

In other Cowboys injury-related news, the AP reports that receiver Dez Bryant returned Friday for the first time since injuring a thigh in the opener. Running back Felix Jones (shoulder) and center Phil Costa (knee) also returned after missing practice Thursday. Receiver Miles Austin (hamstring) remains out.

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