Cowboys' Bryant has hairline knee fracture

Dez Bryant has a slight hairline fracture in a bone in his right knee, though Dallas coach Jason Garrett says the receiver might not miss a game.

Bryant didn't practice Wednesday, three days after getting hurt in a win over Chicago, and the same day the team got back results of an MRI.

"We've had players with this kind of injury who missed no time in the past and other players who have missed up to a week or more than that," Garrett said. "We'll see how he does. When he comes in (Thursday), see how he feels and we'll make our evaluations there as we go forward."

Bryant injured the knee on his first catch on the opening series against the Bears, but came back in the first quarter. He caught his first touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter of the 31-17 win.

Bryant missed seven games last year after breaking his foot in the opener. He also dealt with knee and ankle injuries last season.

"We're just going to run our game," said rookie quarterback Dak Prescott, who has started the first three games while Tony Romo recovers from a broken bone in his back. "Nothing is really going to change whether Dez is or isn't there. He'd be great to have out there, obviously. He gets a lot of attention. But our game plan continues to work."

The 2014 All-Pro went down awkwardly on his right leg when he was tackled by Bears linebacker Christian Jones. Bryant finished with three catches for 40 yards a week after getting season highs of seven receptions for 102 yards.

"He got his workout in around noon today," Garrett said. "Looked like he was moving around pretty good. We've got a number of guys who have injuries on our team. What we do is they come in, they go to the trainers and say, 'Hey, this is how I'm feeling.' We'll keep making our determinations based on the work that they do have."

Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith missed practice also after being inactive against the Bears when a back injury flared up late last week.

The Cowboys, who visit San Francisco on Sunday, have placed rookie defensive end Charles Tapper (back) on injured reserve and signed offensive lineman Emmett Cleary.

Jets' Decker aggravates shoulder injury

Eric Decker's ailing shoulder is banged up even more.

The New York Jets wide receiver dealt with what appeared to be a minor injury last week while preparing for Kansas City, but it worsened in the 24-3 loss on Sunday. Coach Todd Bowles said Wednesday that Decker was "probably" going to have an MRI and his availability for the game against the Seattle Seahawks is uncertain.

"Not sure yet," Bowles said. "Anybody that doesn't practice, I'm concerned about. He came back last week without practicing, so we just have to wait and see."

Bowles added that the wide receiver, originally hurt against Buffalo on Sept. 15, didn't make the Jets' training staff aware of his latest shoulder issue until Tuesday. Decker didn't practice Wednesday and wasn't in the locker room during media availability.

After the game against the Chiefs, Decker said his should was sore.

"Yeah, it was sore," Bowles said. "I don't know how sore."

Decker is tied for third on the Jets with nine catches, but leads the team with 194 yards receiving and two touchdown receptions. If he can't play Sunday, that would be a big blow to a receiving corps that is hurting.

Brandon Marshall practiced fully, but is still dealing with knee and foot injuries he played through last Sunday. Meanwhile, rookie Jalin Marshall, who also serves as the Jets' primary returner, has a torn labrum that will sideline him a few weeks.

Quincy Enunwa, who leads the Jets with 17 catches for 183 yards and a TD, and rookies Robby Anderson and Charone Peake are the team's only fully healthy wide receivers. Bowles acknowledged that "if a lot of people are down," New York could make a move to shore up the position.

Backup defensive lineman Lawrence Thomas also has a torn labrum, like Marshall, and will likely miss some time.

Cornerback Darrelle Revis did not practice with an ankle injury that Bowles said isn't much of a concern. Revis walked through the locker room during media availability and his right ankle was taped. He didn't speak with reporters.

Running back Matt Forte (knee) and left tackle Ryan Clady (shoulder) were both limited, but Bowles said Forte will likely always be limited on Wednesdays throughout the season to reduce wear and tear.

Seahawks' Wilson should play

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson will practice Wednesday and all indications are he will be able to play Sunday against the New York Jets.

Coach Pete Carroll said he needs to see how Wilson recovers from practice but as of now he's expecting his quarterback to be able to play. Wilson sprained the MCL in his left knee while being pulled down awkwardly by San Francisco's Eli Harold in the third quarter of Seattle's 37-18 win Sunday.

Carroll said Wilson is "pretty determined" to play against the Jets, even with Seattle having its bye in Week 5 and the chance of getting the quarterback two weeks of rest.

This is Wilson's second significant injury of the season. He sprained his ankle in the opener against Miami.

NFL receives B grade in diversity report

The NFL received a high grade for its racial hiring practices and a C+ for its gender hiring efforts in 2016, according to a diversity report released Wednesday.

The annual report by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport gave the league its seventh consecutive A on racial hiring practices and a combined grade of B for hiring minorities and women. The second straight C+ indicates the NFL still has a long way to go in improving hiring opportunities for women, but it is a dramatic improvement from two years ago, when the numbers were abysmal.

The NFL's greatest gains in both categories have come at the league office level, while the teams have been slow to become more diverse.

"The league itself is setting a kind of model for the teams that the teams haven't fully followed and embraced," said Dr. Richard Lapchick, the report card author.

Lapchick, who is the director of TIDES, said the NFL received a C+ in gender hiring again largely because of its continued efforts to improve the hiring of women in decision-making roles following the Ray Rice domestic case.

The league took a lot of heat when Commissioner Roger Goodell initially suspended Rice for two games, then reversed direction and indefinitely suspended the former Baltimore Ravens running back after a video showed Rice delivering a punch that knocked out his fiancee in an Atlantic City elevator in 2014.

"I think the NFL has really paid attention to how much better they would be if they had more senior women to advise the league office and the commissioner," Lapchick said.

The biggest gains for hiring women has come at the league level, where there are now 35 women at the vice president level, up from 31 last year and 21 in 2014. Cathy Lanier, the former police chief in Washington, D.C., was named the NFL's senior vice president for security in August.

"That was such an out-of-the-box hire," Lapchick said. "That is a position that has historically been held by men in all of the leagues, so I think that was a real statement on the part of the (NFL)."

The number of people of color in the league office who serve at the vice president level or higher rose from 21 in 2015 to 24 this year. But at the team general manager level, it went from seven a year ago to five in 2016.

For the second year in a row, the NFL has six men of color who are head coaches. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired Lovie Smith in the offseason, but the Cleveland Browns hired Hue Jackson, keeping the number the same. The all-time high came in 2011, when eight out of the 32 coaches were men of color.

But there is some concern the numbers will not increase, as the percentage of assistant coaches of color dipped from 37.9 percent in 2015 to 31.9 percent in 2016. African-American coordinators dropped from 15 to 14 in a year. Coordinator-level jobs are normally where NFL teams look to find head coaches.

In the last four years, 21 of the 22 first-time head coaching hires have gone to white men. New York Jets coach Todd Bowles is the only first-time minority coach to be hired during that span, which some say is an indication that the Rooney Rule is no longer giving minority coaches the opportunities it was intended to when implemented.

While the league received an overall A for its racial hires, the lagging head coaching numbers along with the dip in the number of assistant coaches, coordinators and general managers is indication the NFL still has work to do.

In the coaching ranks, the Buffalo Bills became the first team to hire a woman as a full-time coach when they named Kathryn Smith the quality control coach for special teams this year. The Bills last year also had Kim Pegula, an Asian-American woman, join the ownership group.