Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins hasn’t been cleared to return to practice after shoulder surgery, and likely won’t be on the field any time soon.
Jenkins said today that he’s aiming for the regular-season opener -- apparently writing off the possibility that he could play in the preseason -- and he’s not even sure if he’ll be on the field for the Week One game against the Giants.
“The opener is what we are looking at but I don’t know,” Jenkins told the Star-Telegram. “I’m not quite sure . . . maybe once we get my final clearance.”
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said the team will wait for Jenkins to get cleared by Dr. James Andrews, who performed his shoulder surgery.
“The timetable they have given him is at least a couple more weeks before he goes back to see Dr. Andrews again,” Garrett said. “So the big thing for Jenks is to continue to get his rehab done, continue to get his conditioning done and try to inch the process along as quickly as he can and, hopefully, Dr. Andrews will clear him to come out to practice and he will be a big part of what we are doing.”
With the signing of cornerback Brandon Carr and the drafting of cornerback Morris Claiborne, the Cowboys plan to move Jenkins inside to the slot position, which he has never played. It’s not good news in Dallas that Jenkins probably won’t get any on-field work at the position during the preseason.