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Cowboys ready to call La'el Collins back from injured reserve
11:45 AM CT
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas -- When La'el Collins went down with a toe injury in the Dallas Cowboys' Week 3 win against Chicago, his season was thought to be over.
Collins had surgery Oct. 4 on his right big toe and was placed on injured reserve, but Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday that the team will start a 21-day practice window for Collins.
"I think that we're pleased physically with where he is," Jones said. "I think he's going to physically be able to go. We got a 21-day clock that we can put him on. We'll probably start that clock with him, which means he'll just be zeroed in on doing specifically football work. He, for all practical purposes, is through with his rehab."
That does not mean he will practice when the Cowboys return to work on Thursday. It just gives them an option if something were to happen to Zack Martin or Ronald Leary, who did not play against Philadelphia because of a back injury, in the postseason.
Even if Collins is healthy enough to play, Leary will remain the starter at left guard. It is possible if not likely that Collins would remain inactive, because the Cowboys only dress seven offensive linemen on game day. Joe Looney is the backup guard and center on game day. Collins does not have center experience.
"Whether he'll be available to practice this week, I don't know that right now," coach Jason Garrett said Monday of Collins. "He's working with our strength and conditioning coaches. He's working with our trainers and our rehab guys really each and every day. We'll see how he does over the course of this week. We're certainly hopeful at some point he'll be able to come back this season. We'll just take his situation day by day."
By making the move to recall Collins from injured reserve, the Cowboys would in effect end the season of rookie defensive end Charles Tapper. He was another possible candidate to return from injured reserve because of a back injury that flared up in training camp and prevented him from playing a snap during the season.
11:45 AM CT
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
FRISCO, Texas -- When La'el Collins went down with a toe injury in the Dallas Cowboys' Week 3 win against Chicago, his season was thought to be over.
Collins had surgery Oct. 4 on his right big toe and was placed on injured reserve, but Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday that the team will start a 21-day practice window for Collins.
"I think that we're pleased physically with where he is," Jones said. "I think he's going to physically be able to go. We got a 21-day clock that we can put him on. We'll probably start that clock with him, which means he'll just be zeroed in on doing specifically football work. He, for all practical purposes, is through with his rehab."
That does not mean he will practice when the Cowboys return to work on Thursday. It just gives them an option if something were to happen to Zack Martin or Ronald Leary, who did not play against Philadelphia because of a back injury, in the postseason.
Even if Collins is healthy enough to play, Leary will remain the starter at left guard. It is possible if not likely that Collins would remain inactive, because the Cowboys only dress seven offensive linemen on game day. Joe Looney is the backup guard and center on game day. Collins does not have center experience.
"Whether he'll be available to practice this week, I don't know that right now," coach Jason Garrett said Monday of Collins. "He's working with our strength and conditioning coaches. He's working with our trainers and our rehab guys really each and every day. We'll see how he does over the course of this week. We're certainly hopeful at some point he'll be able to come back this season. We'll just take his situation day by day."
By making the move to recall Collins from injured reserve, the Cowboys would in effect end the season of rookie defensive end Charles Tapper. He was another possible candidate to return from injured reserve because of a back injury that flared up in training camp and prevented him from playing a snap during the season.
