GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Observed and heard in the locker room after the Dallas Cowboys' 26-21 loss Sunday to the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field:

A stunning end: The Cowboys -- who have been at this since the middle of April, officially, and unofficially since last March -- will wake up Monday knowing they don't have a game to prepare for. The finality of a playoff loss is always crushing, but head coach Jason Garrett was proud.

"You have to understand what goes into this," Garrett said. "Anybody involved in this profession as players, as coaches or as staff members close to our football team understands the investment that goes into this game. It started a long, long time ago and guys literally take their guts and throw them out there for three hours [on game day], and our team has done that as well as any team I've been around.

"When things don't work out for you, there's a lot of different emotions that go into it -- anger, disgust, all those things are a part of it. But I'm just so proud of this group and the fight they demonstrated week in and week out, play in and play out throughout this ballgame. Unfortunately we came up short [but] we walk out of this locker room head held high, shoulders back. It's a helluva football team."

Questions to answer: The futures of Garrett and a number of assistant coaches, as well as Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray, become the immediate focus for the Cowboys. Garrett's contract is up and Bryant and Murray are set to be free agents, although the Cowboys have already said they will use the franchise tag on Bryant if they can't reach an agreement with the two-time Pro Bowl receiver on a long-term deal. Bryant and Murray did not want to talk about their futures after the game. Garrett said this is not the time.

Injury update: Tony Romo suspects he suffered ligament damage to his left ring finger in the first half. He was unable to straighten the finger after the game and said it played a part in his second-quarter fumble on a critical third-down pass that went incomplete. Romo said he will likely have to wear a splint for a few weeks for the finger to heal and was unsure if it would affect his chances of playing in the Pro Bowl. Linebacker Rolando McClain suffered a concussion for the second straight game, lasting just one series before his day came to an end.