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Cowboys coach Bill Parcells joked this off-season that with older players such as safety Darren Woodson, you just never know when they will get hurt and be unable to play.

Nobody is laughing at Valley Ranch nowadays.

Two sources confirmed that Woodson is likely to miss training camp and might be in danger of missing part of the season after rupturing a disk in his back while doing off-season workouts. Sources said the Cowboys and Woodson are discussing whether surgery is necessary, which it probably is, with a final decision possibly coming today.

If Woodson has surgery, he is likely to miss six to eight weeks, which means he might not be available for at least the first two games of the season. If Woodson opts to try rehab, keeping surgery as a last resort, he is likely to remain in Dallas when the Cowboys leave for training camp in Oxnard, Calif., on Thursday.

Neither Parcells nor Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was available for comment Thursday.

Calls to Woodson's home Thursday were not returned.

Even before the injury, however, the 35-year-old Woodson acknowledged that 2004 could very well be his final season.

"I'm a realist about it. There is talk. This could be my last year," Woodson told the Star-Telegram in May.

And, if the back injury turns out to be more serious than thought, there is a chance his final season could end without his playing a single game.

Losing Woodson for even a short period of time would be a huge blow to the Cowboys. Not only is Woodson a key cog in the Cowboys' highly rated secondary, but he is a vocal leader and the heart and soul of the team. He has been with the Cowboys since being drafted by them in 1992 and, along with offensive lineman Larry Allen, is one of their last links to the Super Bowl titles of the 1990s. He is the franchise's all-time leading tackler. He has been a mentor to young secondary members such as Roy Williams, Terence Newman and Pete Hunter.

Woodson is backed up by Tony Dixon, who was a key contributor on special teams last season.

Bryant seeks meeting

Nearly six weeks after throwing a jersey in the face of Bill Parcells during a heated argument at a minicamp practice, wide receiver Antonio Bryant is prepared to apologize.

Bryant's agent, Lamont Smith, said Thursday that Bryant is scheduled to talk to Parcells sometime in the next "4-5 days" and is willing to do what is necessary to be a part of the team when the Cowboys begin training camp next week.

"I've had a number of conversations with Bill, Stephen [Jones] and Jerry [Jones], and if [Bryant] comes in ready to play football, they are ready to put this thing behind them," Smith said. "And Antonio is definitely ready to do that. ... He realizes he made a mistake, and I think he's prepared to come in and fix it."

Bryant has not spoken to Parcells or been to Valley Ranch since the incident, which stemmed from Bryant's frustration over practice reps and ended with Bryant being escorted from the field by security.

Neither Parcells nor Jerry Jones has commented on the Bryant situation, and they declined, through spokesman Rich Dalrymple, to do so Thursday.

Smith said Bryant has been working out on his own and, if he returns to the Cowboys, he will be in condition when training camp begins.

Hutchinson update

The end of the Chad Hutchinson experiment appears to be at hand. The Cowboys might cut the quarterback today.

The Cowboys are not likely to go into training camp with five quarterbacks, and there is very little interest from other teams in trading for Hutchinson.

Hutchinson started eight games for the Cowboys in 2002 but lost his starting job to Quincy Carter in training camp last season. The signing of Vinny Testaverde, the trade for Drew Henson and the rise of Tony Romo makes Hutchinson, who had a so-so performance in NFL Europe, expendable.