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 Back-up quarterback Kyle Orton, who has played only two games this
season, will start this Sunday's crucial clash with the Philadelphia
Eagles in which the winner will qualify for the NFL playoffs and the
loser's season will be over.
"He's devastated," Garrett said of Romo. "He put a lot into this."
The Cowboys had earlier hoped the standout quarterback would be able
to play on Sunday.
"We spent the week exhausting all options — treatment, rehab, all
the different things — consulted a lot of people and we felt this
was the best decision for him and our organization and we felt it
was better to have this done sooner rather than later," Garrett told
reporters.
"We felt like the surgery went well and Tony should be able to come
home hopefully later today and start his rehabilitation for the
2013-14 season."
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said he expected Romo
back for pre-season team activities and the surgery would not force
him to use an early-round pick on a quarterback in May's NFL draft.
"With my expectation of Tony's career, which I think will be for
several years to come, it's too early to be drafting a highly ranked
or, if you will, costly quarterback," Jones told Texas radio station
KRLD-FM.
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SECOND OPERATION
The surgery was Romo's second in eight months. He underwent a
procedure in April to remove a cyst.
"They were unrelated," Garrett said. "Obviously he (Romo) played
very well coming off the first procedure he had in the spring,
so we're completely confident he's going to rehab and come back
100 percent."
Romo, 33, has played 136 games for the Cowboys since 2004,
completing 64.6 percent of his passes and helping his team to
the playoffs in 2006, '07 and '09.
Apart from his back problems, other injuries have included a
broken collarbone, broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Although Orton has hardly played this year, completing three of
five passes, he is no NFL novice, having started in 69 regular
season games with Chicago and Denver, going 35-34.
Dallas has signed 41-year-old Jon Kitna to be Orton's back-up
against the Eagles.
Kitna, who spent 15 years in the NFL and last played in 2011,
has said he will donate his $53,000 salary from the game to the
Washington state high school where he teaches.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary,
N.C.; editing by
Gene Cherry)
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