Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Personal matter keeps Brandon Carr away

OXNARD, Calif. – Dallas Cowboys cornerback Brandon Carr is not with the team at the beginning of training camp to deal with what coach Jason Garrett described as a “family health situation,” on Thursday.

“We’re just going to communicate with him as he’s dealing with the situation,” Garrett said. “We’re going to give him some time to take care of it.”

Carr was in London last week to help promote the NFL’s three games this season at Wembley Stadium. Garrett was not sure when Carr would arrive in Oxnard for practice. Last year safety J.J. Wilcox missed roughly two weeks of training camp after the death of his mother.

Linebacker Rolando McClain returned to Decatur, Alabama, on Wednesday night because he has a court case on Friday. A judge denied McClain’s appeal to delay a trial stemming from an arrest in 2013. Garrett said the hope is McClain would return Friday and be on the field on Saturday.

The Cowboys placed defensive end Anthony Spencer and guard Ronald Leary on the physically unable to perform list on Thursday, but the expectations for their returns to the field couldn’t be more different. Garrett said the Cowboys do not expect Spencer to practice soon, while the hope is Leary, who suffered a hamstring strain during the player-run conditioning test, can start practicing on Tuesday.

Defensive tackle Amobi Okoye was placed on the non-football illness list and will be evaluated by his doctors in two weeks.

It remains likely that Spencer will not be ready for the regular-season opener on Sept. 7 against the San Francisco 49ers.

“He’s made a lot of progress since he’s signed back with us,” Garrett said. “He’s been such a good player. He’s a really good athlete, so I’m optimistic enough that he’s going to heal quickly. I know how hard he’s working at it and we’ll just evaluate it day by day, week by week and try to integrate him back in there as quick as we can.”

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