IRVING, Texas -After he was unable to finish Sunday's win in San Francisco, starting center Phil Costa doesn't know yet if he'll be healthy in time to play against Washington in the home opener at Cowboys Stadium in Week 3.
Costa termed his injury a setback to the sprained right PCL he suffered in practice the week before the third preseason game. He said initial indications showed it was no worse than the damage done inititally, which caused him to miss the final two weeks of the preseason.
The second-year former undrafted center said it might help that the Cowboys will get an extra day off since the Redskins game will be played on a Monday night.
Undrafted rookie Kevin Kowalski relieved Costa on Sunday, and could start against Washington if he is unable to play. Kowalski started the final two preseason games.
"Fortunately I have been getting quite a bit of reps at center during the week," Kowalski said. "So the situation wasn't the worst situation that could've happened to me, and I felt I was pretty prepared, and the coaches helped me be prepared. I had just been splitting some reps because Phil hadn't been completely healthy.
"Obviously if Phil is there, he'll be our starter and he'll be playing, and if anything happens to him, I'll have to go into the game and perform."
Costa was just one of a number of offensive players banged up on Sunday, including Tony Romo, Jason Witten, Felix Jones and Miles Austin, along with Dez Bryant being inactive. The Cowboys wouldn't have been able to outlast the 49ers without backups like Kowalski, Jon Kitna and Jesse Holley stepping up big.
The "next man up" mentality has been firmly instilled by Jason Garrett.
"It's expected, so you do it," Kowalski said. "I don't think there's much more to it."
