SAN ANTONIO -- With the NFL cutting out two-a-day practices as football players and fans have known them for years in the settlement with players, coaches will have to make the adjustment in their schedules.

Jason Garrett does not believe it will be that big of a deal.

Players will be allowed on the practice field for four hours a day during camp, and the Cowboys will have a one-hour walkthrough in the morning and a three-hour practice in the afternoon. In all likelihood, the lack of two-a -days will mean players will be in pads on more consecutive days than they have in the recent past.

“If you look at those rules, in general, we never exceeded any of that,” Garrett said. “Now we just have to structure the practices differently. The way we’ll do it is we’ll have shorter walkthroughs, about an hour each day, and a little bit longer practices, getting close to those three hours. In the past we balanced it up a little more and these are the new rules and we’ll make them work.”

The first time the Cowboys can be in pads inside the Alamodome will be Saturday.

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones hinted that veterans could play more in the first two preseason games than normal because there was no organized offseason, but Garrett said he would want to see how camp goes before making a decision.

“You’re allowed to practice in full pads and we feel like it’s very important to do that,” Garrett said. “This is the time of year where you lay the foundation for the physical-ness of your football team, and we’ll do that.”