ARLINGTON -- Tony Romo will be on the Cowboys' 53-man roster this weekend.

That doesn't mean he'll be there after Labor Day.

Club officials continue to wrestle with Romo's status. Multiple sources say the time frame for Romo to return from his L1 compression fracture is precariously close to the length of time he'd be sidelined if placed on injured reserve/designated for return.

Romo will undergo another MRI exam this weekend, nine to 10 days after the initial injury. Those results will dictate whether the Cowboys carry him on the active roster or place him on injured reserve, meaning the earliest he could return would be Nov. 6 against Cleveland.

This means the six- to 10-week time frame that surfaced in initial reports is more of an eight- to 10-week window.

"We're certainly getting our hands around it,'' Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said. "We need to make that decision obviously sometime later in the weekend.

"Whatever we do with him, he needs to be on our 53 when we cut. You've got to have him through the 53-cut before you put him on designated return, if we wanted to consider that. But it may be we keep him on the roster.

"We'll just see.''

The Cowboys have a bye in Week 7 before returning to play Philadelphia on Oct. 30. If Romo can't play before the bye, how much sense does it make to carry him on the active roster for the first six weeks of the season? That would allow him to return just one game before he would if placed on injured reserve.

This is the dilemma the club faces. If the Cowboys aren't convinced Romo can return Oct. 9 against Cincinnati or that next week against Green Bay, it will be difficult to justify carrying him on the active roster.

"He's very driven, driven to do what it takes to get back,'' Jones said. "We've really done a lot of research on this. I think this was a freak accident.

"It's unfortunate for Tony to have some of these things, but I think the last thing in the world we're worried about with Tony is being fragile. He is undeterred, and he really believes this team does have a different sort of mind-set with him not being here and that we can win games and when he does get back, we're ready to make a run.

"When Tony gets back, the team will be ready for him.''

The question is whether Romo can return by mid-October or early November. That will determine how the Cowboys proceed.

Catch David Moore on The Ticket (KTCK-AM 1310 and 96.7 FM) with The Musers at 9:35 a.m. and The Hardline at 4:10 p .m. every Monday through Friday during the preseason.

Twitter: @DavidMooreDMN

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