The Dallas Cowboys expect Felix Jones to return Sunday after a four-game absence, but not as the team's primary running back.

Owner/general manager Jerry Jones indicated during a radio appearance Tuesday that rookie DeMarco Murray, who has been a dominant force while Felix Jones was sidelined with a high ankle sprain, would continue to get the bulk of the carries.

"One thing that comes to my mind is that Murray looks like the more he carries, the more effective he gets," Jerry Jones said on KRLD-FM. "You think of that theoretically about a workhorse running back, that they get better as the game goes along.

"On the other hand, Felix -- and this is not negative in any way -- but Felix has always been a guy that looks like the best way for him to be his best is to inject him in spots. So we may have a guy here in Murray and we may have a guy here in Felix who can step in there 12, 13 times a ballgame and really have a chance to break it."

Murray, a third-round draft pick, has rushed for 601 yards in Felix Jones' absence, setting a franchise record for a four-game span while the Cowboys went 3-1. He has three 100-yard games, including a 253-yard breakout performance against the St. Louis Rams that broke Emmitt Smith's franchise record.

"What [Murray's] done is very good," said Felix Jones, who was handing out early Thanksgiving Day meals to needy folks at The Salvation Army's Carr P. Collins Social Services Center in Dallas on Tuesday. "I've just got to make sure I'm healthy when I get out there. He's doing a great job. He's handled the position very well."

By comparison, Jones rushed for 253 yards on 63 carries during the Cowboys' 2-3 start. Jones, a first-round pick in 2008, has two 100-yard rushing games in his career.

Jones, however, said Tuesday that he's not worried about his role.

"Man, they're really just worrying about me getting back on the field first," Jones said. "Once that happens, we'll start talking about what's going on on the field. Right now, I'm just worried about my health and getting out on the field."