--- description: He said the back is almost healed and that his ribs have been feeling better lately title: Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo Playing With Broken Rib image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc8f5b749c15feba4/69876cf0428a9e841dcc5d83/tony-romo.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [NFL](/tag/nfl/) ## NFL Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo Playing With Broken Rib by [Sports Illustrated / Scooby Axson](/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Sports Illustrated / Scooby Axson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 5, 2014 5:06 PM CUT  Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys warms up before a game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Dec. 4, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois. Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys warms up before a game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Dec. 4, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.Joe Robbin—Getty Images by [Sports Illustrated / Scooby Axson](/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Sports Illustrated / Scooby Axson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 5, 2014 5:06 PM CUT Dallas [Cowboys](http://www.si.com/nfl/team/dallas-cowboys "undefined") quarterback [Tony Romo](http://www.si.com/nfl/player/tony-romo "undefined") admitted that he has been playing with a broken rib for the past two months. Romo told reporters at a news conference after the Cowboys beat the Chicago [Bears](http://www.si.com/nfl/team/chicago-bears "undefined") 41-27 on Thursday night that he didn’t know when he suffered the injury, but it was either during their victory over the St. Louis [Rams](http://www.si.com/nfl/team/st-louis-rams "undefined") on Sept. 21 or their Week 4 win over the New Orleans [Saints](http://www.si.com/nfl/team/new-orleans-saints "undefined"). Romo has also been playing with two transverse process fractures after he was kneed in the back during a Week 8 game against the Washington [Redskins](http://www.si.com/nfl/team/washington-redskins "undefined"). He missed the following week, a 28-17 home loss to the Arizona [Cardinals](http://www.si.com/nfl/team/arizona-cardinals "undefined"). He said the back is almost healed and that his ribs have been feeling better lately. “It’ll be nice when it’s just about the back \[surgery\] instead of all the other junk,” [Romo said](http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/%5F/id/11982008/tony-romo-dallas-cowboys-playing-broken-rib-addition-back-issues "undefined"), according to ESPN.com. Romo wore extra padding against the Bears to help protect him against injury and says he took a pain-killing shot this week. “I didn’t last week in the [Eagles](http://www.si.com/nfl/team/philadelphia-eagles "undefined") game, and that was a poor decision I think,” he said. The Cowboys next play division leader Philadelphia on Dec. 14\. Romo is completing 69 percent of his passes for 2,923 yards with 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions this season for Dallas. His 108.8 passer rating is second in the NFL behind Green Bay [Packers](http://www.si.com/nfl/team/green-bay-packers "undefined") quarterback [Aaron Rodgers](http://www.si.com/nfl/player/aaron-rodgers "undefined"). Romo detailed his plan for preparation before the team plays the Eagles. “I’ll probably start on Philly a little tonight on the plane,” Romo said. “Then from there I think I’ll probably do a little bit of work \[Friday\] during the day. I’ll go ahead and get some treatment and … take off Friday night and Saturday and probably come back on my own on Sunday.” [_This article originally appeared on SI.com_](http://www.si.com/nfl/2014/12/05/dallas-cowboys-tony-romo-broken-rib "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3620479/tony-romo-broken-rib/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3620479/tony-romo-broken-rib/"},"headline":"Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo Playing With Broken Rib","datePublished":"2014-12-05T17:06:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:37:03.380Z","description":"He said the back is almost healed and that his ribs have been feeling better lately","url":"https://time.com/3620479/tony-romo-broken-rib/","keywords":["NFL","Football","Injury"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc8f5b749c15feba4/69876cf0428a9e841dcc5d83/tony-romo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sports Illustrated / Scooby Axson"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc8f5b749c15feba4/69876cf0428a9e841dcc5d83/tony-romo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys warms up before a game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Dec. 4, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.","caption":"Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys warms up before a game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on Dec. 4, 2014 in Chicago, Illinois.","creditText":"Joe Robbin—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/nfl/","name":"NFL"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3620479/tony-romo-broken-rib/","name":"Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo Playing With Broken Rib"}}]}] ```