Tony Romo Tells Cliff Avril Cowboys Will See Seahawks in Playoffs

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril got in touch with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo after his hit caused the veteran signal-caller to suffer a fractured bone in his back during Week 3 of the preseason.

After their text-message exchange, Avril made it sound like there are no hard feelings even though the quarterback is expected to miss eight to 10 weeks, per Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Star-Telegram.

"I hit him up to see how he was doing and to let him know it wasn't intentional," Avril said Friday. "He hit me back saying it was football and it was a freak accident. He started joking and saying, ‘You take care of the NFC West, and we will see you in the playoffs.'"

The injury came after Romo was forced out of the pocket and tried to scramble during Dallas' first drive of the Aug. 25 exhibition game. Avril chased him down from behind, via the NFL:

Avril was remorseful after learning of Romo's fate, per Hill: "It was a football play. I was trying to get the ball out. It was a freak accident. I didn't think it was that crazy. It was an unfortunate situation. As pros we respect each other; we are not trying to hurt each other and put you out."

Cowboys fans didn't hold back in going after Avril on social media, though. He told Hill he had "a couple of hundred mentions" from "a bunch of Twitter thugs."

It prompted the 30-year-old to respond:

However, Avril noted the internet outrage has "died down [in] the last day or two."