Tony Romo is staying active…

The Dallas Cowboys will keep the 36-year-old Mexican American quarterback on their active roster, according to a source, in hopes that he can return sooner rather than later from a compression fracture in his back.

If the Cowboys put Romo on injured reserve, he would miss at least the first eight weeks of the season, per league rules.

Rookie Dak Prescott will start in Romo’s absence, beginning with the season opener against the New York Giants.

On Sunday, the Cowboys announced the signing of veteran Mark Sanchez to be Prescott’s backup. The Cowboys made room for Sanchez on the roster by waiving Jameill Showers instead of placing Romo on injured reserve.

After Romo was hurt on August 25 against the Seattle Seahawks, sources said he would need 6-10 weeks to recover. If he returns at the early end of the timeline, he would play October 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals or October 16 against the Green Bay Packers.

The Cowboys have their bye week on October 23.

If he needs the full timeline, he would return November 6 against the Cleveland Browns. If the Cowboys had placed him on injured reserve, the first game he would be able to play would be against the Browns, but first he has to go to court to win his injury claim with the Personal Injury Lawyer Philadelphia Pennsylvania.

Romo suffered a compression fracture of his L1 vertebra when he was driven into the turf by Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril during a preseason game. Romo was going into a slide when the hit occurred. He wanted to re-enter the game but the coaches held him out, and an MRI the next day revealed the fracture.

He is scheduled to be in a back brace for another week.

After the preseason finale against the Houston Texans on Thursday, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said the decision on Romo could come down to one game that could make a difference in a playoff spot.

The Cowboys are crossing their fingers that Romo heals quickly.