Tony Romo is back, but there is no word on when Cowboys will activate him

Tony Romo stretched alongside Jason Witten early in practice for the Dallas Cowboys, just as they’ve done for most of the past 10 years.

Then the 36-year-old quarterback went off to run the scout team, and his trusty tight end joined the first-teamers along with rookie Dak Prescott, who has a seven-game winning streak filling in for Romo.

The Dallas starter for a decade, Romo was a full practice participant Wednesday for the first time since breaking a bone in his back in a preseason game in August, his fourth back injury in less than four years.

That didn’t change his spot in the pecking order, which includes veteran Mark Sanchez as the backup to Prescott. There’s no reason to change with Dallas (7-1) surging to the best record in the NFC.

“He’s champing at the bit,” Coach Jason Garrett said of Romo. “But you know we’ll watch him today at practice and see how he does.”

The next step is determining when Romo will be active on game day, with the first opportunity Sunday at Pittsburgh (4-4).

Romo hasn’t spoken to reporters since he was injured Aug. 25 at Seattle. Prescott, who has 12 touchdowns and two interceptions and the fourth-best passer rating behind Tom Brady, Matt Ryan and Drew Brees, made his usual Wednesday appearance and said all the same things on the Romo front.

“I don’t really think about if I’ve done enough or what I’ve done,” Prescott said.

Garrett dodged questions whether there was still a medical component in the decision to activate Romo and what the coaches would need to see to determine whether to activate him on Sunday.

Banged-up Jets shuffle roster

The banged-up New York Jets shook up their roster a bit. Left tackle Ryan Clady was placed on injured reserve because of a shoulder injury and wide receiver Devin Smith was activated from the physically unable to perform list.

The team also signed defensive lineman Anthony Johnson from New England’s practice squad to the active roster and waived defensive lineman Jarvis Jenkins. Offensive tackle Zach Sterup was also signed to the practice squad.

Clady, who signed a one-year, $6-million contract, has been dealing with an ailing rotator cuff, however, since injuring it at Kansas City in Week 3. He was active at Miami last Sunday, but only played on special teams. Ben Ijalana will replace him, as he did against the Dolphins.

“It got so bad to where it wasn’t getting any better with treatment and he was pretty much playing out there with one arm,” Coach Todd Bowles said of Clady. “It wasn’t getting any better, he became weaker as a matter of fact, so we just had to put him (on IR).”

Etc.

Chiefs running back Spencer Ware passed the NFL’s concussion protocol and returned to practice Wednesday, and he should be available for Sunday’s game at Carolina. Ware was hurt in Indianapolis and missed last week’s game against Jacksonville. Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston (knee) is also expected to be added to the roster, though Coach Andy Reid said the move had not yet been made. … Neither DeMarco Murray nor rookie Derrick Henry practiced Wednesday, though Tennessee Titans Coach Mike Mularkey says they kept Murray out to rest the running back’s sore toe. Quarterback Marcus Mariota (ankle) was not listed on the injury report while right tackle Jack Conklin (elbow) was limited. Also practicing were left guard Quinton Spain, who has missed the last two games after hyperextending his right knee, and safety Rashad Johnson, who also missed the last two games because of a sore neck. …

Two Minnesota Vikings starters, left guard Alex Boone and middle linebacker Eric Kendricks, have returned to practice after missing the last game because of concussions. Boone and Kendricks were on the field Wednesday. Backup guard Zac Kerin, who was out last week against Detroit because of a hand injury, was also back at practice on a limited basis. … The New York Giants have placed rookie safety Darian Thompson on injured reserve because a foot injury that will require surgery. The team also signed offensive lineman Adam Gettis off the practice squad because left guard Justin Pugh expected to miss up to a month with a sprained right knee.