IRVING, Texas - The Cowboys have recently had the bad fortune of both their starting and backup center being injured. With Phil Costa and Ryan Cook hurt, the Cowboys were forced to move Mackenzy Bernadeau from guard over to center for the past two games.
However, Cook who has been recovering from a knee injury, is looking like he may be available for Sunday night's game against Philadelphia. Cook was a limited participant in Wednesday's practice. On Thursday, he was once again out on the field and taking snaps with the offensive line during the portion of practice open to the media. Cook has sat out the last two games.
On Thursday morning, Jason Garrett talked about what he saw from Cook in practice the day before and his feelings on Cook's availability.
"We'll evaluate him day by day, but he did practice some football for us (Wednesday)," Garrett said. "He took some snaps. He did not take every snap. He was out there in his gear, practicing football. (He was) a little bit limited. We'll see how he responds to that work."
Because of the injuries, Bernadeau was forced to play out of position and fill in at center. While he seemed to do an adequate job, it also meant that Derrick Dockery had to fill in for him as the starting guard. Garrett admitted that Cook's health was very important because they want to be able to start a natural center and allow Bernadeau to be able to move back to the starting guard.
"That's the positions we want those guys to play," Garrett said. "But injuries happen and you have to respond. Mackenzy did a good job of moving over to center, but hopefully Ryan will be available for us as we go forward. We'll see how he does today."
Cook joined the team before the start of the season through a trade with the Dolphins, who received a seventh-round pick next year. Cook was needed right away as he was forced into action after Costa suffered a back injury three plays into the season opener against the Giants.
Cook has started six of the eight games he has played this year and it's looking like he could be ready for his seventh start on Sunday.
