Jerry Jones: If Dez can run and cut, he can play

Owner Jerry Jones says wide receiver Dez Bryant has chance to play against the New York Giants as long as he is able to cut and push off on his surgically-repaired foot.

Bryant has missed the past four games after fracturing the fifth metatarsal in the season opener against the same Giants and undergoing surgery on Sept. 14.

He did weight-bearing rehab work last week for the first time and now the Cowboys will use this week to gauge his ability to play and help save their desperate and reeling team in time for Sunday’s game against the Giants.

Jones said on his radio show on 105.3 FM the Fan that Bryant will make the ultimate decision.

"There's no set procedures,” Jones said Tuesday morning. “There's no set line of demarcation on this or anything. Everybody will get a feel for it, but more importantly, he'll get a feel for it. He's the key. He'll have to decide does he push off on it. This is strictly do you feel comfortable making your cuts. If you do, then it's on go. If not, we'll wait a week."

Last week, coach Jason Garrett said Bryant would have to practice to play against the Giants because of the nature of the injury.

Jones now says the Cowboys will take a long look at Bryant on Wednesday and Thursday and see what he can do.

“It totally depends on how he's doing,” Jones said. “He had a good end of the week last week. He got in some really good work; didn't have much negative response from that work. It was strenuous work, the kind that if he can step out here and have a couple really good days of practice, you could see him on go."

It was always expected to be a 6-to-8 week recovery period. That timetable puts his return for the Giants game right at six weeks.

In an effort to hasten the healing process, Bryant underwent a procedure last week that took stems cells from his hip and injected them in his foot.

The question now is whether Bryant needs to be 100 percent to return? Jones said it will all be based on his comfort in driving and cutting off his foot.

"He certainly will be, it certainly will be satisfactory,” Jones said. “I don't know what 100 percent really means in this particular case. One hundred percent healed? One hundred percent from the standpoint of no sensation, no sensitivity? I don't think you would have no sensitivity, but I do think that all the combination of all the work he's done, which has been extraordinary as well some of the additional procedures that were done give us a lot of confidence that if he's comfortable to putting it down and driving off of his foot then we're comfortable with him playing."

This story was originally published October 20, 2015 at 9:55 AM with the headline "Jerry Jones: If Dez can run and cut, he can play."