Cowboys’ Murray tweets, greets

Cowboys’ rookie DeMarco Murray ran himself into the record books.

His 253-yard performance against the Rams on Sunday drew a series of tweets – and a phone call from Emmitt Smith – plus so many more calls and texts that more than 24 hours later Murray hadn’t even checked them all.

“It’s crazy,” he said Monday afternoon, stepping out of a running backs meeting and into a series of media obligations.

Murray had the kind of breakout game every player dreams of and few ever get to savor.

In his sixth NFL game, and the first he was expected to have a big role, the third-round pick from Oklahoma ran 91 yards for a touchdown on his first carry of the afternoon.

It was his first career touchdown and the second-longest in franchise history. He cracked 200 yards and passed Tony Dorsett’s best day on his 22nd carry, then a few handoffs later outran the best day by Smith, the leading rusher in NFL history, and any other Dallas player.

Murray’s total was ninth-best in NFL history, behind a list of greats such as Walter Payton and O.J. Simpson, and current stars such as Adrian Peterson and Jamaal Charles. Murray also replaced Jim Brown for the most yards ever gained against the Rams, erasing a mark that had stood since 1957.

Injury report

Matthew Stafford is “day to day” after sustaining a right ankle injury in the final minutes of the Lions’ loss to the Falcons on Sunday.

Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said Monday that his quarterback wore a protective boot after the game, but wouldn’t go into details about X-ray or MRI results. The coach hinted the injury wasn’t overly serious, saying if tests had shown anything too significant, Stafford would be “more than day to day.”

• Washington running back Tim Hightower is out for the season with a torn ACL in his left knee, and receiver Santana Moss will miss five to seven weeks with a broken bone in his left hand.

The Redskins have now lost five offensive starters to significant injuries in the last two games.

• Broncos’ leading rusher Willis McGahee is expected to have surgery later this week for a broken finger on his right hand and will not play against Detroit on Sunday. McGahee didn’t return after hurting the finger in the third quarter of an 18-15 overtime win over the Dolphins.

With McGahee sidelined, the Broncos will rely on Knowshon Moreno and Lance Ball.

• St. Louis Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo says Sam Bradford remains in a walking boot and isn’t sure of the quarterback’s availability for Sunday against the Saints. Bradford has a high left ankle sprain, and sat out Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys.

Also, Rams offensive tackle Jason Smith has a concussion and will visit a specialist for a neck injury. Defensive tackle Darell Scott also has a concussion.

• Packers rookie running back Alex Green is out for the season after injuring his knee during Sunday’s victory at Minnesota.

Pacman Jones practices

Cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones smiled broadly as he left the practice field and headed to the Cincinnati Bengals’ locker room, wearing his No. 24 jersey for the first time all season.

At the end of an interview, he yelled, “Yeah!” Then, for effect, he yelled it again.

“I’m smiling,” he said, in case anyone hadn’t noticed.

Jones was cleared to resume practice Monday under a three-week roster exemption. He missed training camp and the first six weeks of the season while recovering from two surgical procedures on his neck to fix a bulging disc.

The Bengals could activate him at any time during the next three weeks.