IRVING, Texas – Two players important to the Cowboys' chances of competing with the Broncos on Sunday were not on the practice field for Wednesday's workout at Valley Ranch.
Miles Austin, who missed last week's game with a hamstring injury, did not practice, along with George Selvie. The defensive end suffered a concussion late in Sunday's loss to the Chargers and did not return.
The NFL guidelines say players must be removed from contact for seven days after sustaining a concussion. So there is a question whether or not Selvie will even be eligible to play, regardless if he's experiencing the post-concussion symptoms.
In other injury news, linebacker Justin Durant was limited in practice with a groin injury.
Austin has dealt with hamstring injuries throughout his career, including 2011, when he missed six games that season because of two different setbacks to both hamstrings. Back in Week 3 this year, he suffered the injury at the end of the Rams game and didn't return. He missed all of practice last week and was ruled out of the Chargers game on Friday and did not accompany the team to San Diego.
In his absence, the Cowboys played rookie Terrance Williams, who dropped the first pass thrown his way and then caught the next seven for 71 yards. However, his last catch resulted in a lost fumble the [embedded_ad] Chargers recovered in the end zone for a touchback.
While Austin has a big role in the offense, not having Selvie could be even more significant.
Not only did Anthony Spencer go to IR last week, but DeMarcus Ware is battling a back injury that limited his snaps last week in San Diego. Without Selive, the Cowboys would likely start Kyle Wilber or Edgar Jones at end, and could use Caesar Rayford more as a pass-rusher.
Selvie recorded the Cowboys' only sack last week against the Chargers and has two on the season.
