IRVING, Texas -- With Friday a game plan day, the Cowboys' coaches and front office staff wanted to get on to preparing for the New York Giants as soon as possible Thursday.

Players had a walkthough practice and will be off Friday. The first practice will be Saturday.

Only one starter played Wednesday against Miami (center Phil Costa) as coach Jason Garrett rested his regulars, and the coach was pleased with the team’s attentiveness Thursday.

“Last night was a big night for a lot of players to try to make their final impression, but 21 players on our team did not play in that ballgame,” Garrett said. “They’ve been pointing toward the Giants since we came out of the St. Louis game, get their bodies right, get their minds right, start the preparation. It’s not like they came off a game last night and now we’re practicing for a new team. Most of the guys who are going to be starting for us have been kind of working this way mentally for the last few days.”

The Cowboys spent time in training camp and earlier in the week getting ready for the Giants but the game plan has not been finalized. However, Garrett believes the Cowboys are ahead of the game in terms of preparation.

“I think you always are in Week 1, even though this is a little bit of a funny Week 1 for us, because you’ve done some preparation in training camp,” Garrett said. “That’s not new. We do that every year. You try to steal some training camp days. You try to steal some days prior to the fourth preseason game to work on that first opponent. So you’re probably a little bit ahead, but no more or less ahead than we are in years past.”