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Tony Romo in back brace, but Jason Garrett still refuses to rule him out of Cowboys opener

Jason Garrett refuses to rule Tony Romo out for the opener, but the Cowboys head coach does acknowledge that the quarterback is currently in a back brace.

Romo has suffered an L1 compression fracture, sources said, and is expected to be out anywhere from six to 10 weeks. Owner Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones have both said that rookie Dak Prescott will open the regular season as the starter.

But Garrett sticks to his public stance that they will take Romo's situation day by day like they do every other player.

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"He just going to start getting into rehab and part of his rehab is he's going to be wearing a back brace for now,'' Garrett said Sunday morning. "So you'll see him around wearing that.

"Again we'll take his situation day by day like we do with every guy on our team and every injury that we have. He'll do the things that he's capable of doing and won't do the things he's not capable of doing and hopefully he'll progress every day.''

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Garrett said he's been presented with a lot of different timetables of when Romo could return but declined to offer specifics.

"There is no reason for me to stand up here and put a timetable on this,'' Garrett said. "A lot of other people outside this building have suggested they know what the timetable is. That's not the world we live in.''

The world the Cowboys do live in at the moment, regardless of what Garrett says publicly, is that the team will go into the season with a rookie quarterback. Can Garrett at least concede that the injury to Romo is deflating?

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"I think the biggest thing for all of us is focus on doing our jobs,'' Garrett said. "That's players and that's coaches.

"Adversity is a part of the game. Injuries are a part of the game. You come to work the next day and you put the next guy in there and if everyone will focus on doing their job, that's the best way to create a good environment for someone who's coming in to play. Everybody focus on doing their job and I think our team understands that.''