Brandon Weeden prepares to start

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Brandon Weeden has had the same routine for about two months: Practice with the first-team offense on Wednesdays and then go back to the scout team the rest of the week.

It gets interesting now for Weeden as starting quarterback Tony Romo deals with a stubborn back that has raised concerns about his availability for Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Weeden took the first-team reps in a walkthrough practice Wednesday and is expected to do the same the rest of the week, or at least until further notice.

“It's still a day-to-day type thing,” Weeden said. “I took the reps today and if he's [Romo] out there practicing great, if not then I will step in there and take each rep which has been good for the last seven, eight weeks. I've been able to take the reps on Wednesday which has been big for me so I'm going to treat it no different, if he's able to go that's the best thing. We'll have to see how everything plays out.”

Weeden was pressed to participate in Monday's game against the Washington Redskins when Romo went down in the third quarter when he took a knee to his lower back. He led the Cowboys on two scoring drives, which concluded in a Dan Bailey 21-yard field goal and a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jason Witten. Weeden's scoring drives led the Cowboys to tie the score twice, but Romo returned for the final drive of the game and remained on the field for overtime.

Weeden finished 4-of-6 for 69 yards and the touchdown.

“He did a nice job,” coach Jason Garrett said. “I thought he had poise and composure, ran the offense, handled himself in the huddle, at the line of scrimmage, made good decisions, made good throws, led us on a couple of scoring drives. He really did a nice job. Not a real surprise.”

Weeden might take over the starting job if Romo is unable to play against the blitz-happy Cardinals, and that's something he's preparing himself for.

“It's just a different mindset, the uncertainty of you may play or you may not play for six, seven eight weeks whatever,” Weeden said. “You just don't know. You've got to approach it like you're going to play at some point, that way when your number is called, you're not caught off guard.”

Brandon Weeden prepares to start Brandon Weeden prepares to start Reviewed by Mr. DCStands4 on 11:14:00 PM Rating: 5

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