Quote:When Tony Romo stayed down after a third quarter sack all I could think was, "The Cowboys activated him from IR too early." Anybody who saw that play could have guessed it: he re-broke his left collarbone. In the NFL.com article about Romo's injury, I read a team doctor warned him he could break it again before the Dolphins game. That makes me wonder why he was cleared to play in Miami. How could the team let that happen?


It also makes me wonder how many other players were activated from IR/DTR too early and re-injured whatever because they were not out long enough. The rule is a minimum of eight weeks, not a maximum of eight weeks, so Romo could have been kept on IR longer. I am afraid many teams think they should take players off IR as soon as they are eligible instead of how long is really necessary. Is this a common error, or just a freak situation in Dallas?