I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really tired of looking at my Twitter feed and seeing the phrases “Tony Romo” and “6-8 weeks” in the same tweet. It happened in 2010, when we got to experience the magic of Jon Kitna, and again last year… twice. Now, if it said, “Tony Romo’s new baby due in 6-8 weeks,” that’d be one thing. But, it never seems to be something positive.
News broke today that after several weeks of deliberation, the Cowboys and their $108 million quarterback have decided to move forward with surgery on his left collarbone in hopes of strengthening it long-term, and reducing the risk of future injury. There haven’t been any confirmed procedures, but two are currently being discussed.
The first, the Mumford procedure, involves shaving down the clavicle bone. Per stoneclinic.com, the average recovery time can take up to 12 weeks, but sources say Romo is expected back in potentially half that.
The second procedure consists of putting a steel plate around the collarbone as a sort of “hard cast,” with the hope that it literally shields the bone from further duress. After perusing Google images for clavicle surgery plates, I can tell you that I believe this surgery looks the most promising… and really gross. Obviously I’m no doctor, but the plate has the same curvature as the bone itself, and can extend the full length of the bone.
Having the surgery early next week should supply the Cowboys with enough time to give Romo proper recovery time and rehab to have him ready to throw at the start of OTAs. With Dez Bryant likely to be fully recuperated by this time as well, the Cowboys should have their top two offensive weapons available for full offseason workouts.
