ARLINGTON -- Cowboys tight end Rico Gathers is active for the first time in his career for Sunday night's meeting with the New York Giants. Defensive end Randy Gregory, who spent most of the week in concussion protocol, is inactive. He was listed as doubtful after a limited return to practice Friday.

Other Dallas inactives: tight end Dalton Schultz, quarterback Mike White, safety Xavier Woods, defensive end Datone Jones, center Travis Frederick and guard Xavier Su'a-Filo.

Gathers, the 6-foot-6, 282-pound former Baylor basketball player, was among Dallas' seven inactives in the season opener at Carolina. He was also coming off an arrest Aug. 31 in Frisco on a possession of marijuana charge. Coach Jason Garrett declined to reveal if Gathers' game status in Week 1 had anything to do with team-issued discipline.

"We always keep any consequences we have with any player in house," Garrett said Friday. "So the biggest thing with Rico is getting him opportunities to learn and grow as a player and getting to the point where we're comfortable getting him in there. There's always going to be good competition for for who's active every week. ....We're going to try to get the best guys out there."

As Gathers developed in a sport he hadn't played since junior high before the Cowboys drafted him in 2016, Garrett has often noted that the tight end could practice several times a day and it still wouldn't be too much. He spent 2016 on the practice squad and 2017 on injured reserve after suffering a concussion in training camp.

So is Gathers, who hasn't been available to the media since his arrest, finally ready for the 46-man roster?

"Absolutely he is," Garrett said Friday, "he's certainly in that competition."

The Cowboys went with three active tight ends against the Panthers, with Geoff Swaim (58) and Blake Jarwin (22) getting the majority of snaps. Dalton Schultz, the 2018 fourth-round draft pick out of Stanford, played just two offensive snaps and one on special teams.

Gathers, while he's still picking up all the nuances of his position, is a mismatch and a red-zone threat, and could give the Cowboys' struggling offense a different dimension.