IRVING, Texas – Less than a full 24 hours after they finished their win in Miami, the Cowboys were back on the practice field Monday.
It's probably not fair to call Monday's workload a genuine practice. The Cowboys went through a walkthrough with no pads and no helmets, as they attempt to cram their Carolina game plan into a short week.
At any rate, rookie defensive back Byron Jones was out at walkthrough after suffering an apparent leg injury at the end of Sunday's game. Jones tweeted that he'd be alright in time for Thursday's game against the Panthers, and his presence at practice seems to support that.
Apart from Jones, the Cowboys seemed to have strong participation in their walkthrough, with one notable exception being Morris Claiborne. The fourth-year corner was ruled out of last week's game with a hamstring injury, and he wasn't present for Monday's on-field activities.
That said, the Cowboys' other two primary absences – Brice Butler and Ryan Russell – were in attendance for Monday's practice. Butler has been coping with a hamstring injury of his own for several weeks, while Russell was ruled out last week with an abdomen injury.
It looked as though the Cowboys came through Sunday's game with relatively few injury issues. All of the players from last week's injury report were present for the walkthrough, including Dez Bryant, Darren McFadden, Barry Church, Nick Hayden, Brandon Carr, Jeff Heath, Jeremy Mincey Anthony Hitchens and Sean Lee.
On top of that, Tony Romo was also on hand to work with the first-team offense and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan on the game plan for Thursday.
It was as light as an NFL practice can be – if one could even call it a practice. But the Cowboys' first work of the week was well-attended, at any rate.
