MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode’s future with the team is up in the air.
Gurode was on the inactive list Saturday night for Dallas’ preseason game at Minnesota, despite the five-time Pro Bowl pick being healthy during training camp and a knee injury this week to backup Phil Costa. Rookie Kevin Kowalski started at center against the Vikings instead.
Gurode started training camp on the physically unable to perform list after telling the team upon arrival he had arthroscopic knee surgery in June.
Costa has been pushing Gurode for the job this month, and the Cowboys already cut veteran starters Leonard Davis and Marc Colombo before camp began. The Cowboys, who used three of their eight draft picks this year on offensive linemen, have clearly been tilting toward youth at those critical positions.
Owner Jerry Jones said Gurode’s status on the roster is under scrutiny for salary-cap reasons, so he was held out of the game to avoid injury. Coach Jason Garrett said the Cowboys would evaluate Gurode’s situation Sunday.
“We need to sit down and go over all of our business,” Jones said. “This is as it should be. We just didn’t want to mess up the table cloth and have him get in the game tonight and get nicked up or what have you.”
Running back Marion Barber and wide receiver Roy Williams were two other veterans let go by the Cowboys before the season.
“There are a lot of issues we’ve had with some of our veteran players in this salary cap situation we’re in,” Garrett said after the Cowboys beat the Vikings 23-17. “Some of those moves were made prior to training camp, and a lot of discussions to try and make those situations work happened prior to training camp. This probably falls into that same category.”
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