Jerry Jones won't rule out Dez Bryant from making return vs. Giants

IRVING, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones will not rule out Dez Bryant from playing Sunday against the New York Giants and intimated that the final call will be made by the wide receiver.

"I don't know what 100 percent means in this particular case," Jones told 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Tuesday morning. "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 the combination of all the work he's done, which has been extraordinary, as well as some of the additional procedures that were done, give us a lot of confidence that, if he's comfortable putting it down and driving off on his foot, then we're comfortable with him playing."

Bryant had surgery to repair a broken right foot on Sept. 14 after suffering the injury in the season-opening win against the Giants. After the surgery, the Cowboys put a four to six week recovery period on Bryant, who had a bone graft as part of the operation and recently had a stem-cell injection into his foot to help the healing process.

Bryant has increased his rehab in the last few weeks. Last week, he was on the field for resistance training with associate athletic trainer/director of rehabilitation Britt Brown, and Jones said Bryant "didn't have much negative response from that work ... and it was strenuous work."

Coach Jason Garrett has said Bryant will have to practice during the week in order to play against the Giants. The Cowboys return to Valley Ranch on Tuesday from their bye week, but Bryant maintained a presence at the facility for treatment.

While encouraged by progress, there did not seem to be a lot of sentiment last week that Bryant would play against the Giants. Even with a three-game losing streak, the team wants to resist the temptation of Bryant returning too soon.

Bryant did not take part in the offseason program, organized team activities or minicamp while awaiting a long-term contract that finally came July 15. He missed half of the training camp practices with a hamstring strain and did not play in a preseason game.

He caught four passes for 58 yards against the Giants before getting hurt.

Last week, Bryant would not make any guarantees he would play against the Giants. He said only that he was doing everything possible to get his foot better.

The Cowboys will return to practice Wednesday.

"Everybody will get a feel for it, but more importantly he'll get a feel for it," Jones told 105.3 The Fan. "He's the key. He'll have to decide does he push off on it? This is strictly, 'Do you feel comfortable making your cut? If you do, it's on go. And if you're not, then we'll wait a week.'"