Romo ready to return for Cowboys

Nov 13, 2008 - 5:21 PM IRVING, Texas (Ticker) -- Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is on track to return to the lineup for Sunday night's game against the Washington Redskins.

The Pro Bowler has missed the last three games with a broken right pinkie, an injury that turned the Cowboys (5-4) from Super Bowl contenders to a team just fighting to stay in the NFC playoff race. Dallas went 1-2 in Romo's absence as Brad Johnson struggled.

Romo, who returned to practice last week, doesn't think the injury will linger when the Cowboys visit the Redskins (6-3) in the key NFC East clash.

"It's getting better," Romo said Wednesday. "Every day it gets a little better and I'm confident it will feel good for the game."

Romo said there is "little bit of pain" taking snaps but described the injury as nothing more than a bruise.

Talkative wide receiver Terrell Owens is looking forward to the return of the two-time Pro Bowler.

"He's a lot healthier than he was last week," Owens said. "He's throwing the ball better. He's taking snaps. Obviously he's feeling better."

Without Romo, who was hurt on the first play of overtime against the Arizona Cardinals on October 12, the Cowboys were a shell of themselves offensively, failing to score more than 14 points in any of the three games without Romo. The one victory was a 13-9 triumph over Tampa Bay in which the Cowboys managed a franchise-low 172 total yards.

Dallas already has fallen three games behind the Super Bowl champion New York Giants (8-1) and is a game back of the Redskins, who already own a win over the Cowboys this season.