Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy admits he’s relieved to have CeeDee Lamb back at work. The star receiver agreed to a four-year, $136 million extension with $100 million guaranteed on Monday.

When Lamb arrives to sign his deal, it will be the first time the Cowboys have seen him since the end of the 2023 season. Lamb missed the entire offseason program, including the mandatory minicamp, and all of training camp and preseason while waiting for the deal to be finalized.

Better late than never, but the Cowboys are still 13 days away from their season opener. Lamb could practice as early as Tuesday, but the Cowboys will be careful about his return.

“I think No. 1, it was just great to get the contract “We have him in place and obviously have him back,” McCarthy said Monday, via Jon Machota of TheAthletic.com. “The schedule that we have this week is really in a rebuilding mode. I don’t feel like we have to adjust a whole lot, but obviously we’re going to have a plan for him. . . . We’ve got to be smart with him, and that’s our plan.”

The Cowboys have three practices this week before a long weekend, and next Tuesday they begin preparations for their Week 1 opponent, Cleveland.

Videos have shown Lamb working hard with his own trainer, but playing football is the only way football players get into football shape. He did a little bit of that with quarterback Dak Prescott this offseason, but not nearly enough and not recently.

In 2019, the Cowboys didn’t sign holdout running back Ezekiel Elliott to a contract extension until September 3, the week of the season opener. He played 37 of 68 snaps in Week 1 against the Giants, having 14 touches for 63 yards and a touchdown.

“These athletes train with incredible pace and discipline,” McCarthy said. “CeeDee, in particular, loves to run. This guy, you have to slow him down in practice because he just keeps going. I’m really more focused on not overdoing it. Overall fitness, I don’t think that’s going to be an issue. It’s really more about the connection, the little things, the details. (He) just has to get back to running routes and getting into the seven-on-sevens and the team periods. He needs body-on-body contested catches, his contact balance needs to be tested. You really only get that in football.”