IRVING, Texas – It looks like the Cowboys will have something they've been missing since Sept. 22 when they take the field in MetLife Stadium – a fully-healthy Miles Austin.
Austin spoke to the reporters for the first time in weeks on Friday afternoon, declaring himself 100 percent and ready to make just his sixth appearance of the season.
"I'm just excited to be playing again. I'm obviously from Jersey, so my family will be there. So I'm just fired up," he said. "It's the next game for us, and the next game is always the biggest game. I'm just glad to be back with the guys."
Sunday will be Austin's sixth appearance in 11 games, but it's hard to remember much from his fourth and fifth outings. After straining his hamstring in Week 3 against St. Louis, he attempted to give it a go in Week 6 and 7 against Washington and Philadelphia.
The result: seven targets with no catches. Those games prompted the Cowboys to shut Austin down for another month until he was fully healthy, but he was reluctant to use that as an excuse.
"Yeah, it's tough because you want to be able to run all your routes at full speed and be effective," Austin said. "I really wasn't feeling great, but at the same time, whenever you're out there, you're out there." [embedded_ad]
With several more weeks to recuperate, including a bye week, Austin is hopeful he won't have to make any excuses this week. He caught 10 balls for 72 yards in the season-opening win, and he had 15 catches for 125 yards when he went down against the Rams.
"It's just something you have to go through," he said. "Regardless of how frustrating it is, you've got to deal with reality when it comes. The reality now is I feel good, I'm playing and I'm ready to go."
Only time will tell if Austin's presence can open up the Cowboys' struggling offense for the likes of Dez Bryant or Jason Witten, but it can't hurt. As one reporter pointed out, Dallas is 4-1 this season with Austin in the lineup and 1-4 without him.
"I'm just going to stay away from that one," he said laughing.
