The Cowboys finally had all of their offensive linemen healthy for Wednesday's practice with the return of veteran Derrick Dockery. The eighth-year guard has been out with a sprained MCL/broken tibia since the second game of the season, but he wasn't able to have full participation during the full-padded practice.
Dockery being limited is one reason veteran Montrae Holland remained at the left guard spot for the start of practice. When asked if Holland's solid performance against the Rams last week earned him a starting job, coach Jason Garrett wouldn't give away the official depth chart, but leaned in that direction.
"For now he's the starting left guard going forward, absolutely and again one of the concerns was what his conditioning was going to be like not having played and I think he showed he can do that," Garrett said. "He can be football ready. And we feel god about the health of some other guys coming back, talking about Dockery, and adding (Daniel) Loper and those guys, but we'll just continue to evaluate the position but Montrae really did a nice job in the game and we're positive about him going forward."
The guard situation has been inconsistent, mostly because of the injuries and inexperience. Dockery was signed to help rookie guard Bill Nagy, who started four games but is now in injured reserve with a broken ankle. His injury led to the Cowboys signing both Holland and Loper with Dockery still out. But now that Dockery is returning, the Cowboys will have a decision to make at the left guard spot.
But much like they'll do with the running back situation, it seems likely they will stick with the hot hand.
