Saturday, September 19, 1998

Leon Lett, Chad Hennings expected to play

By David Moore

The Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

DALLAS -- Leon Lett and Chad Hennings, the team's starting defensive tackles, were held out of practice Thursday with sprained knees. They were joined at the end of practice by backup lineman Antonio Anderson.

Anderson sprained his left knee in the final 30 minutes of practice and had to be helped off the field. He will be evaluated Friday to determine if he'll be ready for Monday night's game.

Lett and Hennings are both expected to play.

"I will definitely be out there," Hennings said. "It feels great. We're just taking precautions."

Warren progressing

Running back Chris Warren is ahead of schedule in his return from a strained left groin and could be cleared to resume practice next week.

"I've been running and lifting and feel pretty good," said Warren, who was feared to be out for up to six weeks after aggravating the injury in the team's final pre-season game on Aug. 27. "Hopefully, I can practice next week.

"I don't know if I can go all out yet, but I want to play."

Owner Jerry Jones has said he's optimistic that Warren will be able to play against Oakland on Sept. 27.

Vote of confidence

Quarterback Jason Garrett, who played his college ball at Princeton, has taken a low-key approach to Monday night's return to New Jersey to face the New York Giants at The Meadowlands.

But Troy Aikman said Garrett is ready to play in front of his friends and family on "Monday Night Football."

"He's not going through any anxiety over this," Aikman said. "He's very excited. He's out there running sprints right now, trying to get rid of some of his nervous energy.

"He'll do fine."

Garrett watch

Jason Garrett took a total of 25 to 30 snaps with the first-team offense the first two weeks of the regular season.

Thursday, he took 50 snaps as he prepared for the third start of his Cowboys career.

"He looked pretty good," Coach Chan Gailey said. "He was very sharp mentally. A couple of passes got away from him. But otherwise, he looked pretty good."

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(c) 1998, The Dallas Morning News.

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