The Sports Xchange

The Dallas Cowboys remain optimistic that All-Pro wide receiver Dez Bryant will be back after the Week 6 bye, missing only four games.

Bryant left the Cowboys’ Week 1 victory over the New York Giants with a fractured right foot and had surgery on Sept. 14.

The plan is still for Bryant to be healthy enough to return for the Week 7 rematch against the Giants on Oct. 25, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said.

“Our prognosis has never changed,” Jones said Friday on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. “I know there have been a lot of people who have doctors on their media staff and like to speculate on these things, but we’ve been pretty consistent from Day One. At first we thought maybe four to six (weeks) and that changed to six to eight. By the next day we were pretty much thinking six to eight. We really feel like it’s a very fair goal to think that Dez will be back after the bye.”

Bryant had a bone graft as part of his surgery to repair his broken foot and there have been reports he would be out longer than expected.

NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported last weekend that Bryant faces a 10-12 week timeframe to recover from the surgery, but the team has disputed the report.

“We want him out here,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told the Dallas Morning News on Thursday. “We want him keeping in shape and keeping all the ligaments around it in shape. He can. I just had a great visit with him. The pain is going away by the day and that’s important. His procedure gives me a lot of confidence that he will be able to have a positive recovery.”