CARROLLTON, Texas - When a player suffers an injury that causes him to miss more than half of his rookie season, one might assume his team would ease him back into the mix once he returns.

If the Cowboys are doing that with Felix Jones, it might have been a week or two in February.

Because from the looks of things here at the OTA practices at Standridge Stadium, the second-year running back from Arkansas is getting thrown back into the mix with full force.

Despite a hamstring injury that caused him to miss about four games, and then needing toe surgery that completely ended his rookie year, Jones is back in action and he seems to be involved in much more this year.

Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said during Thursday's practice, which wrapped a third week of OTA workouts, that his hopes for Felix have soared considerably heading into this season.

"My expectations for Felix are to really have his touches to the ball upped significantly," the owner said. "Certainly, if you take into account that injury situation this year, he'll be a major touch-factor in the offense. He will be."

And not just the offense, but special teams as well. Not only is Jones expected to return kickoffs again this year, but he also tried his hands at fielding punts during Thursday's practice. For now, both Felix and head coach Wade Phillips referred to it as the experimental stage, but if the running back can get a handle - literally - on punt returning, it will be just one more way to get the ball in his hands.

"The first thing is to be able to catch it," said Phillips, who added that rookie DeAngelo Smith and Patrick Crayton will also get work at fielding punts. "We'll look at all those people but we'll see what happens with Felix. I don't know that he'd be a punt returner. It takes a lot of work to do that and certainly the most important thing is getting the ball first. Guys that hadn't done it, that's what you worry about first is securing the football."

Felix Jones could recall only one punt return in his college days at Arkansas, but said he'd done it "a few times" in high school.

"I thought I did a pretty good job," Jones said of his one collegiate attempt. "I think I was just filling in for someone. But (right now), it's something I'm practicing on. You never know what can happen. If it does come up, I'll be ready."

Whether or not Jones handles many punts this year is unknown, but from the looks of things, it does appear he'll be heavily involved in the "Wildcat" formation the Cowboys revealed some on Thursday. Actually, Phillips referred to the formation as the "Razorback," obviously suggesting that Felix Jones will be a big part of it.

Phillips certainly didn't want to comment much on the formation, even suggesting that Tampa Bay, the Cowboys' first opponent of the regular season, will have to get ready for something. Still, the Cowboys showed a few wrinkles during the team drills. With Tony Romo split out wide, receiver Patrick Crayton took the shotgun snap with Felix Jones lining up once in the backfield and another time in motion from the receiver position.

Jones, along with college teammate Darren McFadden, the fourth overall pick of the Raiders in the 2008 draft, ran the formation to much success at Arkansas for two seasons (2006-07).

So does he think it will work with the Cowboys, too?

"Absolutely, I think we'll get a lot better at it," Jones said. "You'll see a lot more when the time comes. I think it can be even better in the pros."

If the idea is to get Jones the ball more in space, what better time and place to do that than with the Wildcat?

"It will help out a lot. Like at Arkansas, it's much easier to beat a couple of guys than trying to beat all 11 at once," Jones said. "I believe once we get better at it, it will be one of our weapons."

Last year, the Wildcat was used more in the NFL, starting in Miami where Ronnie Brown torched the Patriots for four touchdowns, all coming from that formation. Cleveland used it some with receiver/return specialist Joshua Cribbs and other teams such as the 49ers, Jets, Ravens and even McFadden and the Raiders occasionally tried it.

The Cowboys even had some Wildcat plays in the game plan against the Giants on Nov. 2, planning to use Isaiah Stanback. Instead, Stanback was a late scratch from the active roster and the Cowboys never ran those plays the rest of the season.

Even being injured, Felix Jones said it was good to see other teams running the formation that he believes originated at Arkansas.

"I was thinking, they stole that from us," Jones joked when asked about his first impressions of seeing the formation in the pros. "But once you see it in the NFL, you can take some pride in that. It really all started at Arkansas with Darren and I. Seeing it grow so much, you take pride in it."

More than anything, Jones takes pride in the simple fact that he can run any type of plays or formation. Being hobbled up for most of his rookie season turned out to be a frustrating time for the Tulsa, Okla. native.

"It was tough on me," Jones said. "I couldn't be out there with my teammates. Things were going pretty good and all of a sudden, it's over."

Jones' first few games were actually better than pretty good. He scored a touchdown in Cleveland on his first NFL carry. He scored the next week against the Eagles on a 98-yard kickoff return. And then he scored on a 60-yard run the next game in Green Bay, becoming the first Cowboys rookie in team history to score three touchdowns in his first three games.

While he was surprisingly a non-factor against the Redskins the following week, getting zero offensive touches, the Cowboys came back against Cincinnati in Week Five and Jones rushed for 91 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown.

But just like that, the season would abruptly end on a 16-yard run against the Cardinals. Jones tweaked his hamstring, and never returned to the game, or anything else.

Just as it appeared he was ready to come back after a month, the Cowboys discovered Jones had a nagging toe injury that needed surgery as well.

He spent the rest of the season on crutches and in a walking boot and had to watch the Cowboys fall from their 4-1 record to 9-7 and miss the playoffs.

Jones said it wasn't until this past February that he finally felt 100 percent again. And now, as he goes through the practice motions here at the OTA workouts, Jones said he does his best to block out last year's injuries.

"I try not to think about it," he said. "If I keep thinking about it, it will just wear me down. It will have me trying to protect it. I don't think about it and I just go out and do my job."

A job that now includes fielding some punts and taking a few handoffs from different players and positions on the field.