Still less than a week removed from being knocked unconscious in a freak practice accident, wide receivers coach Jimmy Robinson returned to work Thursday's morning walkthrough.
It was his first practice back since the back of his head was slammed against the Alamodome turf, but the 58-year old Robinson said it was unlikely he will coach the evening's full-contact practice as the plan is for him to continue to ease into his regular duties.
"It's great to be back," Robinson said. "A little frustrating when you can't be out here doing your job, but getting a little better each day."
Robinson still has headaches and occasional double vision after what was diagnosed as a concussion, saying that he feels worse in the morning than later in the day. A former wide receiver for the Giants, 49ers and Broncos, Robinson believes he had several concussions as a player, injuries which often were underdiagnosed in that era.
At least in those instances he had a helmet, which makes Saturday's incident more frightening to Robinson.
"It's scary when you think about what it could have been," Robinson said. "This kind of thing could have been a lot worse in terms of permanent damage. It could have been a coma, I mean who knows?"
The coach doesn't have a target date for when he'll be able to resume 100 percent of his work. While he's recovering, Robinson still presides over the wide receivers meetings. Several offensive assistants have shared his job in practice, predominantly Keith O'Quinn.
"Keith's doing a great job with them," Robinson said. "He and certainly Wade (Wilson) and Jason (Garrett) are doing a great job with them. They're getting coached. They're getting plenty of coaching, believe me. But like I said, they need to be hearing it from me because I'm the guy that's here to do that."
Robinson said the players, coaches and team medical staff have been great in their support since the accident. The Cowboys are eager to have Robinson totally healthy and back working.
"One of the things I do know about him is he's about as tough as they come," Garrett said. "Hopefully he'll be 100 percent soon. But he's a tough guy. It's great to see him."