Tony Romo heads to IR-Return, Matt Stafford banged up as well

The Seahawks face off against a Jay Cutler-less Bears team this Sunday, but may be in line for a few more backup quarterbacks over the next few months.

The Cowboys placed Tony Romo on the Injured Reserve with "to return" designation, meaning he must miss a minimum of seven games and will officially be out Week 8 when the Seahawks head to Dallas. In his place, we can assume for now that the Cowboys will roll with Brandon Weeden as their starter. Of course, it's still up in the air as to whether Dez Bryant will be back by Week 8 as well.

Another situation to monitor is Matt Stafford's status in Detroit. Stafford got beat up pretty badly after taking several crushing hits last week against Minnesota, and the Lions' starter had X-rays taken after the game. However, the Lions are being coy about his availability going forward. Stafford avoided the question when asked whether he'd play this week against Denver, he replied, "My intention is to get as ready to practice this week and see what happens."

Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said the decision to play would come down to the doctor's orders.

"We kind of make it pretty cut-and-dried," Caldwell said. "If the doctors tell us that they can play, that they are capable of playing without getting further injury or things of that nature, obviously, then obviously that's when we are given the task of determining how we fill out our 46-man roster. But with guys and the ability to play, they don't let him go unless he's ready to go, OK. So the same thing will happen with Matthew this week."

Stafford was sacked once but hit eight times against the Vikings, and whether he's battling bruised ribs or just soreness, he'll have his hands full against Von Miller and Demarcus Ware this week. Seattle plays Detroit in Week 4, and if Stafford is unable to go that week, the likely starter would be Dan Orlovsky.