IRVING, Texas- The Cowboys have now played four straight games without Dez Bryant.
And there is moderate amount of optimism around Valley Ranch the streak won't reach five.
But for that to happen, Bryant will need to make significant progress with his fractured foot that he suffered in the Week 1 win over the Giants.
Head coach Jason Garrett said he would certainly prefer Bryant to practice for the rematch with the Giants on Oct. 25.
"Like with any injury you certainly want to see a guy out there on the practice field," Garrett said on Monday. "You want to be able to test it on the practice field and see how he responds physically to the work. There are different kinds of injuries but certainly his would be one where you want to see him on the practice field running around and see how he handles it."
When asked his status, Garrett kept it rather vague to the media.
"Yeah, he's making progress. He's going through his rehab and he's been out on the field a little bit but he's really just taking it day by day," Garrett said. "We'll see how he responds to the work going forward. The bone has to heal. It's the kind of injury that the bone has to heal. Him being a tough guy doesn't really matter in this situation. It's a medical decision and he's certainly going to give himself every chance to go out there and play."
[embeddedad0]Garrett then added the bone is in "the process of healing."
Initially, Bryant's timetable was 4-6 weeks with some outside speculation of 6-8 weeks, if not longer.
Last Thursday, Bryant underwent a therapeutic injection early in an effort to speed up his recovery from a broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot.
Sunday's loss to the Patriots marked four weeks since the injury and when the Cowboys take on the Giants in the Meadowlands for their next game, it will be a full six-week absence.
The Cowboys have obviously missed Bryant, coupled with Tony Romo's broken collarbone injury that has kept him out since the middle of the Week 2 win over the Eagles.
Ironically enough, Terrance Williams' most productive game this year occurred with Bryant in the lineup when he had five catches against the Giants in the opener. He followed that up with four for 84 yards, including a touchdown against the Eagles the next week. But in the next three games, Williams has only five catches, including two last Sunday against the Patriots.
Nick Eatman is the author of the recently published ****If These Walls Could Talk: Dallas Cowboys***, a collection of stories from the Cowboys' locker room, sideline and press box, with a foreword written by Darren Woodson.*
