IRVING, Texas - Short weeks are always tough. Dealing with injuries, while it has been the norm this year, is also a difficult process.
Add the two together and the Cowboys will have quite a challenge to get ready for Thursday's Thanksgiving Day game against Seattle.
The Cowboys have kept the team's training staff more than busy all season long and this week is no exception.
The latest setback has been a common occurrence to this season.
Left guard Kyle Kosier, who started just the last two games because of what has become a nagging foot injury, re-injured the same foot during the second half of Sunday's 35-22 win over the 49ers.
Team owner Jerry Jones said in the post-game locker room on Sunday that he didn't like Kosier's chances of turning around and playing this week against the Seahawks. Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips reiterated those sentiments on Monday.
"Kyle sprained the same foot, so it doesn't look good for him playing this week," said Phillips, who added that putting him on injured reserve and ending his season has been discussed as well. "That is what we're trying to determine. We're going to look at it again since he had the same injury and is trying to come back twice now. My indication is we're going to go to another doctor and look at the situation and see whether he can come back again and whether he should be shut down (for the season)."
Phillips said he expects no changes in the contingency plan with Kosier out. Cory Procter has filled in for Kosier all season, starting eight games and finishing Sunday's game with the 49ers.
Phillips said Kosier would likely play again Thursday, over other possible candidates such as veteran Montrae Holland, Joe Berger or even tackle Pat McQuistan, who played some guard in the preseason.
The Cowboys will probably also play Thursday's game without rookie cornerback Mike Jenkins, who left the last game with a strained hamstring and didn't return.
Jenkins has been playing mostly on special teams and the defensive sub-packages on third downs. It's likely the club will use either Alan Ball or Quincy Butler as the fourth cornerback behind starters Terence Newman and Anthony Henry, and dime corner Orlando Scandrick. Although Adam "Pacman" Jones returned to the team on Monday after being partially reinstated by the NFL after his suspension, he is eligible to practice with the team Tuesday but won't be able to play until the Dec. 7 game at Pittsburgh.
Jenkins' injury would be an even bigger blow if the Cowboys have to play without Newman, who has been dealing with a groin/abdomen injury all season. Newman missed Friday's practice last week because of another groin injury, a less significant and unrelated injury to the one that kept him out of the preseason and the first game and ultimately led to an abdominal strain that required surgery.
After missing four games, Newman returned on Nov. 16 in Washington and had one of the best games of his career, shadowing Redskins receiver Santana Moss in the Cowboys' crucial 14-10 win.
"After playing the (Washington) game, I felt it tighten up during the game a little bit but it wasn't bad," Newman said. "I practiced Wednesday and it felt pretty good, a little sore, and Thursday it just gradually got more sore and I kept trying to practice through it. Friday it was something - just get a MRI and hold you out, and get somebody else prepared in case I couldn't play."
Newman said he arrived at Texas Stadium Sunday thinking he would not be able to play against the 49ers.
"I woke up and was walking around and I felt it pulling," said Newman, who quickly consulted Cowboys head trainer Jim Maurer. "I told Jim, 'Man, it's kind of tight.' So I went and kind of worked out to see how it felt. I was running and planting. And then I just got mad and said, 'Hey, I'm going to play. I don't care.' I told Jim I was going to play."
Newman also told the media Monday he's going to play against Seattle.
"Oh yeah, I'm playing. If I played last week, I'll be out there Thursday," Newman said. "I just need to give it some rest, and I'll be OK. Those muscles are still pretty weak. I never knew what goes into a groin injury. A lot of people have had them and told me to make sure you are ready because they can linger. Now I know exactly what they were talking about."
Another player who knows a little bit about lingering injuries is tight end Jason Witten, who has been fighting through the pain of a fractured rib that he suffered Oct. 26 against Tampa Bay. While Witten hasn't missed any games in the process, playing the last three, the hard hit he took from 49ers cornerback Nate Clements Sunday didn't help matters.
Witten was diagnosed with a sore jaw after the hit, which took him to the ground for several minutes before he eventually returned to action.
Safety Pat Watkins has been battling a neck strain that he reinjured Sunday against the 49ers. Phillips held the safety out of Monday's light walk-thru practice but said that Watkins told him he intends to play.
The Cowboys are battered and bruised and just need some time to heal. However, this week, time is certainly not on the Cowboys' side.
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Nick Eatman - 
