Cowboys' Jerry Jones: Michael Gallup Not Expected to Start Season on PUP List

Michael Gallup may avoid the physically unable to perform list after all.

On Wednesday, team owner Jerry Jones indicated as much while speaking to reporters:

"We just don't want to do anything that would put him in some kind of category that would limit us from getting him in the first game," Jones added.

Gallup, 26, tore his ACL in a January matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, putting his status for the start of the regular season in jeopardy.

He acknowledged at the start of training camp that being available for the first game of the year Sept. 11 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was "not a reasonable possibility."

"You know how this fourth quarter goes in the rehab," Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Tuesday. "All I can tell you is when we have the meeting every morning, [associate athletic trainer and director of rehabilitation] Britt Brown is obviously running the rehab, and he feels real good about Michael's progress as far as his timeline and so forth. He hasn't had any setbacks, and I hope we will continue to be blessed with that process. He's doing really well."

When he returns, Gallup will be a crucial part of the offense, especially since Amari Cooper was traded to the Cleveland Browns. He best season came in 2019, when he notched 66 catches for 1,107 yards and six scores. Injuries limited him to nine games and 35 receptions for 445 yards and two touchdowns last year.

He'll be the No. 2 option for Dak Prescott behind ascending star CeeDee Lamb.

If Gallup did go on the PUP list, he would be sidelined for the team's first four games. So avoiding that designation, even if he doesn't play in Week 1, would be big.

"We don't want to take away Michael’s opportunity to play as soon as possible, but how that comes down in the end, that's really to be determined," McCarthy told reporters.