FRISCO, Texas – Defensive lineman David Irving returned to the team Thursday and is expected to practice for the first time this week, head coach Jason Garrett said.
Irving has been dealing with personal matters intermittently since the offseason and was excused for Cowboys' entire training camp and preseason. He practiced last Wednesday – his first practice since November of last season, before he missed the final four games with a concussion – but was excused again toward the end of the week.
Given his lack of time on the field, the Cowboys decided to hold him out last Sunday at Houston.
Will Irving make his season debut this Sunday against Jacksonville? Garrett said the team will see how he responds to this week's work.
"He's certainly an awfully good player and he's very physically talented and he seems to be able to handle playing without a lot of work," Garrett said. "Hopefully some of the work he got last week and some of the work he's been doing on his conditioning will help him go out and have a good productive practice today and string a couple together and see if he's available for the ball game."
