Murray Undergoes Surgery

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IRVING, Texas — Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray underwent surgery Monday to repair a fractured bone in his left hand, but he has not been ruled out of Sunday’s critical game against the Indianapolis Colts.

Murray suffered the injury late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 38-27 victory over the Eagles in Philadelphia. He underwent surgery late Monday to repair a fracture in the fourth metacarpal of his left hand.

His status for the Colts game will depend on the how he responds to the surgery, the type of wrapping that can put on the hand to protect it and how well he can perform with the injury in terms of blocking, catching, running and protecting the ball.

“We’ll just see how that surgery goes and hopefully he’ll be back soon,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “The biggest question we have to ask ourselves is, is he functional to do his job? Can he hold the football, can he carry it under duress, can he block, and can he do the things necessary to play the position? Obviously using your hands are important in football. But we’ll just take it day by day and see how he does.”

“He’s as strong-willed and determined an individual as I’ve ever

been around,” Garrett said when asked about Murray’s chances of playing. “If anybody has a chance to come back, he does. Let’s take first things first and see how the surgery goes and we’ll make our best decisions from there.”

Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith missed one game in 1999 following surgery for a similar injury.

If Murray can’t go, the Cowboys will turn to backups Lance Dunbar and Joseph Randle. They will also likely call up Ryan Williams from the practice squad.

“We have a role for those guys each week. Lance has done a number of different things for us on third down as a receiver, split out,” Garrett said. “He’s just a really good football player. We also have confidence handing him the football. Joseph has been a guy that we’ve brought into games just to give him the ball and he’s done a real nice job with that. I have a lot of confidence in both of those guys.”

But it’s clear these guys aren’t Murray, who has 351 carries for an NFL-high 1,687 yards this season.

Randle has 34 carries for 237 yards. Dunbar has 26 carries for 91 yards.