Tony Romo could be out six to 10 weeks with a broken vertebrae in his back which resulted with a Cliff Avril hit early in the Cowboys' third preseason game against the Seahawks. Cowboys fans are expecting rookie quarterback Dak Prescott who had an outstanding college career with Mississippi State to start. As the Cowboys look for veteran backups, they would have no other choice to start the fourth-rounder rookie in the open season as the starter against the New York Giants and face the Washington Redskins in Week 2.

With Tony having a broken bone in his back, it could keep him out anywhere from a quarter to half of the season. The Cowboys struggled badly when Romo got hurt in Week 2 last season, and his efforts to return late in the year were thwarted by yet another injury. He’s now officially a ticking time bomb at age 36.

After taking a hard hit to the back Romo wanted to get back into the game Thursday night against the Seahawks but unfortunately, he was only able to watch the remainder of the game from the sideline.

After fans have seen Prescott light up the preseason and him having another fantastic game on Thursday, there seems to be some quiet quotient of fans wanting to see more of Dak and less Romo. Prescott, playing against the Rams and Dolphins, completed 22 of 27 passes for 338 yards, scored four passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns and threw zero interceptions, recording a perfect passer rating of 158.3 and going 9-for-9 on scoring drives (good for 51 points). These numbers are nothing short of phenomenal.

The good news for Dak is that he has am amazing offense with rookie Ezekiel Elliott who is leading a strong run game. Also having the best offensive line in the NFL, a No. 1 receiver Dez Bryant and a valuable tight end Jason Witten also helps Prescott tremendously on the field.

Cowboys coach Garrett knows the life of a backup quarterback very well, and that can prepare Prescott as well. Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Lineman helped Matthew Stafford weather the early storm in 2009 when Stafford was a Week 1 rookie starter for the Detroit Lions, so he also has been through that situation.

The expectations for the Cowboys are high despite losing Tony Romo for half of the season. Dallas has gone 1-13, including 1-11 last season, in the 14 games Romo has missed in the past three seasons. Despite this, with Prescott at the helm, I expect the Cowboys to go 9-7 and possibly finish as a wild card team.