IRVING, Texas — Emmitt Smith will return to the Dallas Cowboys' lineup Sunday against Philadelphia after missing two games with a sprained right knee.

        Coach Dave Campo said Friday that Smith would “be ready to play the majority of the game.” Smith did not speak with reporters.

        Smith returned to practice Thursday and was back on the field Friday. He was hurt during a 17-3 win over Arizona on Oct.28.

        Before missing consecutive games for the first time in his 12-year NFL career because of the sprain, Smith missed only two other games because of injury — one in 1994 and one in 1999.

        Smith has 15,564 career yards, 1,162 behind Walter Payton's NFL record.

        Troy Hambrick, who rushed for 204 yards while replacing Smith in losses to the New York Giants and Atlanta, will start at fullback.

        COLTS:

        The team still isn't saying if two-time rushing champ Edgerrin James will miss the rest of the season because of a knee injury. He has missed two games since being injured Oct.25 against Kansas City.

        Despite reports that James tore the ACL in his left knee and will need season-ending surgery, Colts coach Jim Mora said Friday the team's prognosis for the injury remained the same as it was earlier this week.

        Team president Bill Polian announced Monday that James would rest the knee for two to three weeks before a decision is made about the rest of the season.

        PANTHERS:

        Rookie quarterback Chris Weinke will return to the lineup Sunday against San Francisco.

        Carolina coach George Seifert decided after practice that Weinke would start. On Thursday, Seifert had expressed concern over whether Weinke had recovered from a strained throwing shoulder that kept him out last week against St. Louis.

        “I think Chris did a good job today and he would be the starter,” Seifert said Friday. “I think he looked good in practice and strong, and all of the other things that we'll need.”

        BROWNS:

        Running back James Jackson and H-back Mike Sellers are questionable for Sunday's game at Baltimore. Jackson hurt his ankle and Sellers took a hit on his knee in Wednesday's practice.

        CHARGERS:

        Defensive end Mike Pringley was released to make room on the roster for punt returner Glyn Milburn.

        Milburn was signed Thursday to replace Reggie Jones, cut after muffing two punts in Sunday's loss at Denver. Pringley had been inactive for San Diego's first nine games.

        DOLPHINS:

        The team will make a game-time decision Sunday on whether defensive tackle Daryl Gardener will miss Sunday's game with the New York Jets because of a sore back. Last season Gardener missed six games because of back trouble.

        • The estate of former linebacker David Griggs won a $10.2 million settlement in his 1995 death. Lawyers for the family, the Florida Department of Transportation and a construction firm, Gilbert Southern, negotiated the settlement just a week before a trial on damages to be awarded was to begin.

        Gilbert Southern will pay $10 million and the state $200,000. The estate also received a $1.3 million settlement in May from nine other defendants whose identities were not revealed.

        A jury ruled in June that the state and Gilbert Southern were 90 percent responsible for the June 19, 1995, accident in which Griggs' Lexus hit a large hole on a Florida Turnpike off-ramp, forcing it off the road and into a pole.

        Faulty construction and maintenance caused drainage problems that resulted in the hole, the jury found.

        The panel put minimal responsibility on Griggs, 28, who had a blood-alcohol level of 0.16, twice the legal limit of 0.08.

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