IRVING, Texas – Not all of the injury news coming out of Valley Ranch was bad on Monday, as Cowboys coach Jason Garrett had several optimistic updates.
Sean Lee exited Sunday night's loss to the Saints in the first quarter with a concussion, and he was sidelined for the remainder of the night. Despite that, Garrett said Lee had rebounded well from the injury after the game.
"Sean seems good. He seemed good after the game last night, seemed good today," he said. "He'll go through the concussion protocol this week."
Lee will have to clear that protocol before he can re-enter any practices, let alone Sunday's game against New England.
The Cowboys also lost Brice Butler in the second half, when he tweaked his hamstring after a 67-yard catch and run against the Saints secondary. Butler said Sunday night he didn't expect the injury to hold him out for long. Garrett labeled him with a familiar daily recovery timetable.
"He hurt his hamstring, and we'll take his injury day-by-day," he said.
Some of the most intriguing injury news involved a player who didn't play Sunday night – and who hasn't played since Week 1. Randy Gregory has been missing for three weeks with a high ankle sprain, but Garrett sounded optimistic when asked to update the rookie's status.
"He's making progress and hopefully we'll get him out here in the next few days and get him back available to play for us," Garrett said.
That'd be a big development, considering the Cowboys are also welcoming fellow pass rusher Greg Hardy back to the lineup this week. Asked to clarify if he thought Gregory might practice this week, though, Garrett played it much more close to the chest.
"We'll see -- take him day by day," he said.
In the meantime, the Cowboys are undoubtedly looking at another week where they'll be playing short-handed. Even if short-term concerns like Lee and Gregory can return by Sunday, team cornerstones like Tony Romo and Dez Bryant are still missing. The loss of Lance Dunbar is also a blow to the Cowboys' rushing and receiving efforts.
In the face of that challenge, Garrett said the Cowboys will continue to do the best they can with the players on hand.
"We're going to get them as ready as we can each week and learn from those experiences," he said. "The more you play in games, the better you're going to get. We have plenty of examples of that on our team. Teams around the league have those kind of examples. That's when you grow."
