ARLINGTON, Texas -- When Miles Austin suffered his hamstring injury early in training camp, the notion was that it was not as severe as the pulls he suffered last year that knocked him out for six games in 2011.

Three weeks later and Austin has not returned to practice. He will not play in the preseason.

“I think everything has been really positive with him since he had the injury and I think he’s gotten better and better,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “There has been no setback. He does have the hamstring injury and he’s had it really for a number of years. Dating back to ’07, ’08 and ’09 when we were trying to give him a chance to step up, he missed a lot of time at different points of those preseasons and during the seasons. It’s been something he’s been dealing with for a long time

We’ve been trying to as a staff and as a medical staff trying to do the right thing by him to make sure that these things go away a little bit. He’s worked extremely hard.”

Over the last week to 10 days, Austin has stepped up his rehab with more sprints and resistance training. The Cowboys expect him to be able to practice and play in the Sept. 5 season opener against the New York Giants.

But this will be the second straight year in which he did not play in a preseason game due to a hamstring injury.