Cowboys could get Doug Free back next week

The Cowboys won’t have right tackle Doug Free on Monday night as Free continues to recover from a small fracture in his right foot.

That will make two straight games on the sideline for Free, who was expected to miss three or four weeks when the injury was originally diagnosed. On Saturday, though, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said that things have been progressing well enough that the team thinks he has a shot of returning to action next week.

“We’ll see how he is next week when we start off on Wednesday and we’ll go from there,” Garrett said, via the Dallas Morning News. “Initially it was a three or four week type thing. He traditionally heals fast. He’s a tough guy and we feel like he’s coming back relatively well.”

Jermey Parnell started for Free last week and gave the Cowboys little reason to feel any pain from Free’s absence as the line was a big reason for a 31-21 victory over the Giants.