Irving, Texas – With only one practice in this bye week, the Cowboys appear to have received some good news.
-Jay Ratliff
(ankle) and Kenyon Coleman (knee) were both in jerseys practicing with the rest of the defensive line. The practice did not feature full pads or full contact, but Ratliff and Coleman’s participation alone is more than the Cowboys have seen from him since the start of the season.
-Rookie safety Matt Johnson was in practice with a helmet, but no shells. Johnson’s latest injury problems have been to his back. Along with a prior hamstring injury Johnson missed almost the entirety of training camp.
With Barry Church’s injury leaving the Cowboys thin at safety Jason Garrett talked about the possibility of throwing the fourth-round pick into the fire when he is 100 percent healthy.
“I don’t think there’s hesitancy,” Garrett said. “We just have to see where he is. He hasn’t practiced a lot for us. We want to make sure he’s healthy and getting acclimated. I think there are different roles that he can step into, special teams guy then work his way up to a role on defense. More than anything we just have to see what his health is like and how he practices and make the necessary decisions from there.”
-Phil Costa attended practice with a helmet. Costa has yet to play since the start of the season due to back issues. Ryan Cook has filled in as the role of starting center in his absence.
-Linebacker Anthony Spencer attended practice with helmet in hand, but did not have a jersey on and looked to not be participating. Spencer missed Monday night’s game with a strained pectoral.
Punter Chris Jones was not on the practice field working with the kicker and long snapper. Jones hurt his knee in the game against Tampa causing the Cowboys to sign veteran Brian Moorman. Moorman, who played exceptionally well against the Bears, was on the practice field punting.
