Cowboys at Bucs: Key Starter Returns to Practice

FRISCO - Even after all these years as an NFL coach, Mike McCarthy is the first to admit - he’s still learning.

One area of education: How to deal with the media/the public when it comes to injury and illness.

During training camp, McCarthy addressed the shoulder soreness of QB Dak Prescott by telling us he’d likely miss “a few days.”

It turned out to be nothing serious - but it also turned out to be a few weeks sidelined for the Pro Bowl star.

This week’s largest Cowboys injury concern involves La'el Collins, who missed all of last season due to hip surgery and is now dealing with a neck problem that the team is calling a “stinger.”

But while “stinger” sounds rather innocuous, McCarthy went another direction at midweek when asked if he thinks Collins would be available to the Cowboys in Thursday’s NFL season opener at Tampa Bay.

“I don’t know,” the coach replied, finding a way to be honest while also not saying too much.

On Sunday, the Cowboys returned to work at The Star and the right tackle Collins is part of the good news of the day.

“La’el will practice today,” McCarthy announced on Sunday morning, adding that the team’s Dr. Dan Cooper “cleared him (Saturday).”

The opportunities to practice are now dwindling. The Cowboys have been readying journeyman backup tackle Ty Nsekhe to be the first-teamer against the Buccaneers.

"I think Ty, where he is in his career, I think he's done a good job throughout camp," McCarthy said of Nsekhe. "I think he's been getting, not only better, but more and more comfortable with what we're asking him to do."

Collins, at this point in his career, could in theory be a last-second thumbs-up, meaning that he’s experienced enough - and in the best shape of his football life - to play on a Thursday without having practiced extensively.

But what McCarthy had termed “a holding pattern” with Collins is now moving forward. It’s a simple truth - and a positive one.