IRVING, Texas – Cowboys coach Jason Garrett spoke briefly about Rolando McClain's absence from the Cowboys' first practice of game week on Wednesday afternoon.
The Cowboys defense got one big boost with Orlando Scandrick returning to practice after his four-game suspension was overturned. But McClain, who is off to the strongest start of any of the team's defenders, was missing from the Wednesday session.
"Rolando McClain with his groin, he didn't participate in the walk-through," Garrett said.
McClain was one of several high-profile absences from practice, as Tony Romo and Dez Bryant both sat out while nursing problems with their back and shoulder, respectively. Garrett was much more direct about those two injuries than McClain's, however.
"We do anticipate at least Tony and Dez practicing tomorrow. We'll see about Rolando as the week goes on," he said.
The severity of McClain's injury is still unknown, but it does mean both of the Cowboys' top two options at middle linebacker are dealing with groin problems. Justin Durant, who moved from middle linebacker to the weak side to make room for McClain, suffered a groin strain during the Week 1 loss to San Fransico. Durant's prognosis for recovery was three to four weeks, and he was inactive for Week 2's win against Tennessee. [embedded_ad]
Garrett did not say how similar the two injuries were, other than that they were to the same area.
"Both groin injuries, we'll take them day by day," he said. "He did not practice today and did not participate in walk through."
McClain has been the highlight of the young season for the Dallas defense. He leads the team with 22 tackles through two games, and he added a sack, a tackle for a loss, two quarterback pressures and a pass deflection to that tally. Last Sunday against the Titans, he made an acrobatic interception on a tipped pass to end a Titans' scoring threat.
With Durant and McClain both out for the time being, rookie Anthony Hitchens remains as the most viable middle linebacker.
