OXNARD, Calif. -- Wide receiver Dez Bryant is making progress from the hamstring strain he suffered Aug. 8, but when the Dallas Cowboys practice against the St. Louis Rams on Monday and Tuesday, he will continue to be a spectator.
Bryant has stepped up his rehab in recent days, taking the field in his helmet the past few days, but it does not look as if he will play in the Cowboys' second preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers on Aug. 23 either.
The Cowboys were mindful of giving Bryant too many reps too soon in training camp after he missed the offseason program in a contract standoff with the team. He was kept out of individual work the first day of camp and had his snaps monitored.
Bryant suffered the strain during the seventh practice of camp and fifth in full pads. Coach Jason Garrett does not believe Bryant was being pushed too hard.
"I think you can always kind of think about those kinds of things," Garrett said. "What contributed to that? We talk about that as a coaching staff. We talk about that as a medical staff. What we could have done better. We're always going back and looking at things. When things go well, why did it go well? What didn't go well when things went well? And then certainly when things don't go well, you want to make that same evaluation. So it's not an exact science by any means. But we'll take him day by day and hopefully he'll be out here pretty soon."
