Travis Frederick: I’m glad to be back to write the next chapter

[Rowdy]

Travis Frederick admits there was a time after his Guillain-Barré diagnosis that he thought his career was finished. But the Cowboys center is on track to return to the field this season.

“I’m just glad to be back and be able to write the next chapter in this story,” Frederick said Wednesday.

He has an appointment next week for a “sort of final check-in to make sure there’s no permanent damage there.” Doctors will put Frederick through a battery of tests to confirm he is good to go.

He is not participating in team drills during organized team activities. That will have to wait until training camp as he rehabs from two offseason surgeries in addition to his recovery from the autoimmune disease that kept him on the sideline the entire 2018 season.

“I feel good where I am in the weight room. I’ve come a really long way,” Frederick said. “It’s interesting because there’s three things holding me back now. There’s the return from Guillain-Barré. I had a umbilical hernia repair, so that kind of knocked out my lowers for a while, and I had the shoulder repair, so it knocked out my uppers for a while. So I’m still coming back. I’m a little bit behind in the offseason lifting program compared to everybody else because they started a few weeks before I did, but I do feel really good in both areas of where I am at this point.”

The Cowboys are taking a deliberate approach in the four-time Pro Bowler’s return.

“I think we’re just being smart,” Frederick said. “Obviously, I trust in the trainers and what they’re doing and their recommendation there. I think it’s best for me, and it’s good for the team, too. It’s great I can work my way back in. I can knock that some of that rust off before I’m back in there against live bullets.”