DeMarco Murray returned to practice Wednesday, December 17, and took part in individual drills. Murray is less than two days from having surgery to repair his broken left hand and his status for Sunday's game versus the Indianapolis Colts is still in question.
Murray was seen with a hard plastic shell sewn into the top of the glove on his left hand, which he wore during practice. Murray practiced carrying the ball, as well as catching, but all was done in non-contact form.
Officially, Murray was listed as did not participate on the injury reported since he didn't take part in any team drills.
Murray has said himself he feels good about his hand and spoke with former Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith, who went thru the same surgery in his playing days, to go over tips on how to play post-surgery.
Murray has not been ruled out for Sunday's game and there has been plenty of optimism in the Cowboy's organization, including owner Jerry Jones, on Murray's availability for Sunday. A big reason for that is that the surgery was done on Murray's left hand and not his right hand, his primary hand for carrying the ball. The biggest concern has been on pass-protection as well as catching the ball out of the backfield.
Head coach Jason Garrett has stated that they will need to see something from Murray in practice sometime this week in order to feel comfortable with putting him in the starting lineup.
"I think we need to see something where there's a comfort level we all have and certainly a comfort level that he has," Garrett said. "Carrying the football is an important responsibility. You have to be able to do it. I think we all want to see it. I know he wants to see it, so we'll take it day by day and see how it progresses."
Joseph Randle and Lance Dunbar will be called upon if Murray's unable to play and while both young running backs have showed an ability to carry the work load neither have very good pass-protection ability like Murray does.
Along with Murray's questionable status, right tackle Doug Costless and right guard Zach Martin also did not practice due to ankle injuries both suffered against the Philadelphia Eagles this past Sunday night.
The Cowboys are encouraged by Murray's early progress but more than likely will not make a decision on his playing status until the weekend.
