Cowboys QB Jon Kitna (abdomen) did not practice Wednesday. Stephen McGee is expected to draw the week 17 start against the Eagles.

The Cowboys will sign quarterback Chris Greisen to the practice squad later today and quickly try to bring him up to speed.

Even though Tony Romo went down with a fractured collarbone in late October, the club banked on its ability to make it through the rest of the season with Jon Kitna and Stephen McGee. The odds of doing that diminished when Kitna missed the second half of Saturday's loss to Arizona with a strained oblique.

It appears McGee will get his first NFL start in the final regular season game against Philadelphia. Even if Kitna could take the field in a backup role, does the team really want to put the 38-year-old quarterback in that position?

Not really. The club will prepare Greisen to be the backup for Sunday's finale.

Sunday afternoon, Cowboys front office officials were at Valley Ranch are discussing what to do with the quarterback position.

Last week the team placed starter Tony Romo on injured reserve, ending his season because of a broken left collarbone. Saturday night, Jon Kitna, Romo's backup, suffered a left oblique muscle injury in Saturday's loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the team most likely will get a quarterback if Kitna is unable to play.

Stephen McGee will start Sunday's regular season finale at Philadelphia in place of Kitna. Finding a backup for McGee is another issue.

With WR Roy Williams joining Dez Bryant on the sideline. QB Jon Kitna will be throwing a lot toward TE Jason Witten and WR Miles Austin as reserves Jesse Holley and Sam Hurd get playing time opposite Austin. Marion Barber is still out, which means Felix Jones and Tashard Choice will be sharing the running load. Redskins CB Carlos Rogers returns to the starting lineup.

The Dallas Cowboys could be without two starters for Sunday's home game against the Washington Redskins.

Wide receiver Roy Williams is questionable with a groin injury suffered this week in practice, and it doesn't look like he'll play.

Running back Marion Barber, who has missed the last two games with a calf injury, was limited in practice this week and isn't expected to participate against Washington. Felix Jones will start in place of Barber.

Williams was unable to push off on a consistent basis during Friday's practice, but he did some work in walk-through sessions. He will, however, try to warmup before the game to see if he can get loose.

Sam Hurd, who has just eight catches this season, would probably start if Williams is unable to play. The Cowboys would also employ more sets with two tight ends with wide receiver Miles Austin in Williams' place.

Tashard Choice becomes a better flex play if Barber is out, and the absence of Williams means Miles Austin and Jason Witten will be targeted heavily by Jon Kitna.

In three of the five games Tony Romo started at quarterback before he was injured on Oct. 25 against the Giants, Miles Austin had three games with more than 142 yards receiving.

In seven games With Jon Kitna as the starter, Austin has one game of more than 100 yards (117 vs. Jacksonville). Austin has caught three TD passes from Kitna after only two from Romo, but overall his numbers are down.

Austin had 34 catches for 500 yards in five games and a little more than one quarter from Romo and 24 catches for 326 yards in seven games and nearly three quarters from Kitna.

“I have the same relationship with pretty much both,” Austin said, later adding, “I mean, there is something different. There’s a different quarterback. We have different players in the game now. Things are going to change, but I feel like we’re going about it the right way.”

Dez Bryant has something to do with it, but now that Bryant is out for the year, Austin still didn't have a significant game last week against Philly. He gets a good matchup this week against the porous Redskins secondary, so hopefully it's not too late.

Veteran Jon Kitna, 38, will remain the quarterback until the team makes a final decision on whether to bring Tony Romo back from injury.

It means there will be no concerted effort to get extended playing time for third-string quarterback Stephen McGee to evaluate him for next season. But Jason Garrett said McGee has made progress from last season.

"I think he's done a nice job," Garrett said. "If you remember last year, Stephen got hurt in preseason before the '09 season, his rookie year, and didn't get a chance to play in that all-important last preseason game for a third string quarterback. That was a little bit of a setback for him because snaps are so valuable. Then if you fast-forward to this year he had a good off-season, he had a good training camp and then he got a chance to play in that last preseason game against Miami. I think he represented himself well. He certainly has the physical tools. His big thing was his inexperience as a drop-back passer coming into this league. But he's someone who works very hard; he's very committed to getting better each and every day."

Philadelphia cornerback Asante Samuel has been downgraded to out for tomorrow night's game in Dallas.

This is great news for Miles Austin, Jon Kitna, and the entire Dallas offense.

Tight end Jason Witten rolled his ankle in the fourth quarter against the Colts, but that didn't stop him from catching a 2-yard touchdown pass from Jon Kitna a couple of plays later to give the Cowboys a 35-28 lead.

Witten caught all five passes thrown his way for 42 yards against the Colts' Cover 2 scheme. It's designed to prevent deep plays but allows underneath routes.

Witten said afterward that his ankle would be fine.

Dallas QB Jon Kitna has put up comparable numbers to Tony Romo’s this season after six games and needs his best lineman, LT Doug Free, to handle Colts DE Dwight Freeney one-on-one. Freeney is the quickest defender that Free has faced this season and has an outstanding spin move. Even with the possible return of MLB Gary Brackett, the Cowboys figure to pound the ball inside against the Colts’ defense with RBs Felix Jones and Tashard Choice, who actually has better vision than injured Marion Barber. Cowboys LB Keith Brooking will test his foot in warmups and if he can’t go, rookie Sean Lee will start.