FRISCO, Texas– Sean Lee is out of practice with a knee problem, though Cowboys coach Jason Garrett doesn't think it's a long-lasting issue.

"Sean's dealing with a knee injury. He hasn't practiced the last couple days," Garrett said Tuesday morning. "We don't think it's long-term. He's making progress to come back, and hopefully he's going to be able to do that – sooner rather than later."

Lee has suited up for practice each of the last two days, but he has mainly worked on his own on conditioning. During the open portion of Tuesday's practice,he left the field to work in the team's weight room.

"If he practices, it'll be on a limited basis," Garrett said.

Lee missed the entire offseason program after undergoing an arthroscopic procedure on his knee. Garrett said he wasn't sure if the current injury was related to that procedure.

Meanwhile, the rest of the roster underwent what resembled a Friday practice, with the preseason finale against Houston looming in just two days. Players wore shoulder pads and helmets with shorts.

The Cowboys have to meet the first of two cut deadlines at the conclusion of practice. By 3 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, they must trim their roster to 75 from their current tally of 84.

It seems a bit odd that NFL teams have to cut up to 25 players just two days before the preseason finale, and it's something Garrett said is an annual topic of discussion around the league.

[embeddedad0]"I think the argument that the people who are in favor of having the two cut down dates – the argument they make is that it gives players who get cut from one team an opportunity to get picked up by another team and see if they can make that team in the last week of the preseason," he said. "One of the challenges about that is the cut down date is Tuesday and all the games are being played on Thursday. So it's a tough transition for a guy who does get released."