Stephon Heyer sat out Wednesday's practice to rest a shoulder injury. His status for this Sunday's game against the Dallas Cowboys remains uncertain.

"Stephon is coming along," Jim Zorn said. "He was out at practice getting mental reps, but I want to see him physically practice. We'll see as the week goes along here if he'll be able to do that."

Said Heyer: "I'm going to see how it feels [on Thursday] and then take it from there."

Zorn said earlier this week that he wanted Heyer to practice by Thursday before deciding whether he would play on Sunday.

Heyer suffered the injury in the second quarter of last Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals. He sat out two offensive series--replaced by veteran Jon Jansen--before returning to play the entire second half.

If Heyer can't go, then Jansen would draw the starting assignment against Dallas.

Jansen, who started at right tackle most of this decade before being replaced by Heyer this year, said he continues to prepare every week as if he's a starter.

He admitted he remains disappointed to be out of the starting lineup, but he has been a professional in his new role.

"I have not changed anything I've done in the last 10 years," he said. "I go out and practice the same way. I just haven't played on Sundays."

Asked to assess Jansen's performance against Arizona, Zorn replied: "He did fine. He was ready to play the rest of the football game if he had to, and we were very pleased with how he responded."

Added Jason Campbell: "Jon is a veteran. He has played many games against the Cowboys and he understands the magnitude of this game and the approach to take to the game. He has handled himself like a professional. He has really been supportive."

-- SELLERS AND DALLAS

Mike Sellers sat out practice on Wednesday to rest a quad injury.

It would be hard to believe he would not be available against the Redskins' top rival. Perhaps no other Redskin gets as motivated to play the Cowboys than Sellers.

"I get tired of hearing the name 'Dallas Cowboys,'" he said on Wednesday. "It's Dallas. Who wants to hear that name all the time?"

Then he acknowledged: "They're playing great football."

Sellers's best memory of Texas Stadium is, of course, the Redskins' 2005 victory over the Cowboys. In that game, Mark Brunell threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Santana Moss to topple the Cowboys 14-13.

"That was my first time ever winning in Dallas," he said. "That was a pleasure. That stadium was rocking and all of a sudden it got real quiet."

-- PRACTICE SQUAD MOVE

The Redskins have signed linebacker Johnny Baldwin to their practice squad, the team announced on Wednesday. To make room on the practice squad, the Redskins released linebacker Curtis Gatewood.

Baldwin, 6-1 and 23o pounds, played with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2007, seeing action in three games. He was claimed off waivers from Detroit on Sept. 3, 2007.

Baldwin originally entered the league as a fifth-round draft choice (158th overall) by the Lions in the 2007 NFL Draft. He wears jersey No. 57.

Gatewood originally signed with Washington on May 2, 2007 and spent the entire training camp with the Redskins. He was released on August 30, but was signed to the Redskins' practice squad the following day.

-- KELLY UPDATE

Malcolm Kelly was limited in Wednesday's practice due to an ankle injury and Jim Zorn did not sound optimistic of his progress.

"He was still favoring that ankle," Zorn said. "He had so much tape on it that it looked like a cast. That didn't help him at all. He was not able to go full speed."

Kelly suffered the injury in Week 2 against the New Orleans Saints. He has struggled through injuries since early in training camp.