GRAPEVINE, Texas - The Cowboys don't have an official timetable for when special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis will return to action.
But they've already got a contingency plan in place.
In between rounds at the Cowboys' annual sponsor golf tournament, Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips announced Wednesday that his son, Wes Phillips, will assume the off-season duties for special teams until DeCamillis returns from the neck and back injury he suffered in last week's collapse of the practice facility.
DeCamillis spent a week in the hospital before being released Sunday. He underwent surgery on May 4 for a fractured cervical vertebrae to stabilize the injury.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he was still unclear when DeCamillis will able to return to the office. Even when that happens, Jones said he's unsure when the special teams coach can return to his normal self, which includes a hands-on coaching approach he displayed during the first part of the rookie mini-camp.
"Being back carries with it conditions - how physical and active he can be," Jones said. "I can't speak to that right now. It does look like he can be back in a shorter period of time than you might think. We have not established a time table, but it looks like it will be in our off-season, sometime this spring."
But the Cowboys have been able to stay in constant communication with DeCamillis.
"He's got his laptop out there. As far as the Power Point presentations, he's had them put together," Wade Phillips said. "Wes will do the meetings for him. He'll go back and forth to Joe's house and work with him with the computer stuff and the football stuff. He'll manage the meetings for him, through Joe. They'll be able to watch practice. Joe is part-time right now. He's not at the office yet but at some point we think he'll be able to be in the meeting or around the meeting.
"Joe has coaches that helped with all the special teams stuff, and that will continue. Basically, we'll do it from Joe, through Wes."
The younger Phillips, who currently handles the offensive quality control, said the transition shouldn't be too difficult, mainly because DeCamillis already has things in place.
"It's definitely going to be more work," Phillips said. "But the thing about Joe is that he's a very organized person. He had everything ready. He's got all the OTA meetings and film already planned. So really, it's me getting with him and going back with the coaches, probably at his house, and then I'll be able to relay some stuff to the rest of the coaches.
"I don't have to put together the meetings. I just have to talk to Joe and just relay the things that he would've communicated to the staff. I think it's going to be a pretty smooth transition, although we would definitely love to have him."
DeCamillis was hired this off-season to replace Bruce Read, who was let go after just two years. The Cowboys clearly struggled on special teams last season in many areas. Along with the hiring of DeCamillis, who has more than 20 years of coaching experience in the NFL with stops in Denver, Atlanta, New York Giants and Jacksonville, the Cowboys have also showed a stronger emphasis on special teams.
Nearly all of the 12 draft picks last month should have a role on special teams, headlined by a fifth-round pick on USC place-kicker David Beuhler, who should be able to handle the kickoff duties.
However, the Cowboys do have some injuries on special teams, along with the coach. Kicker Nick Folk had surgery last week to repair a right hip labral tear. He is expected to resume kicking in three months, which is right around the start of training camp.
Punter Mat McBriar, who fractured his right foot in that overtime loss to the Cardinals that ended on a blocked punt for an Arizona touchdown, said he is close to 100 percent again. McBriar has been punting for more than a month now and expects no problems for next week's OTA practices.
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