IRVING, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne returned to practice Monday and declared himself ready for game action.

That’s not to say that Claiborne, who has missed the three preseason games due to knee tendinitis and a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder, is completely healthy. He still has soreness in the shoulder, which sidelined him the last two weeks, but he’s ready to play in Thursday night’s preseason finale if the coaches ask him to, as anticipated.

“I don’t know how many snaps they want me to play, but whatever they want me to do, I’m up to do it,” said Claiborne, who worked with the starting defense on Monday.

Claiborne, who has missed 10 of 12 preseason games in his career due to a variety of injuries, sprained the AC joint in his other shoulder during last season’s opener. He played with a harness to protect his shoulder the rest of the season and underwent offseason surgery.

This sprain isn’t as serious. He’ll wear a small extra pad underneath his shoulder pads as protection, but it’s not nearly as painful as the injury a year ago.

“It’s an AC sprain, so you know it’s going to be sore,” Claiborne said. “I don’t know if you ever had one before, but they get pretty sore. After a week or so, I don’t think it’ll be healed. It’s better, definitely better. I have more range of motion in it. I can reach up now. It’s getting better each and every day. It’s up to the coaches [at] game time.”