LaVar Arrington is expected to return to practice at Redskins Park this week to test his injured right knee, but his status for next Sunday's game remains questionable at best, team officials said.

Arrington is expected to initially participate in individual drills and scout team work.

The three-time Pro Bowl linebacker had arthroscopic knee surgery on Sept. 24. He was expected to return in late October, but he suffered a setback during a practice. Doctors located a bone bruise around the knee and prescribed more rest.

Last weekend, team physician Dr. James Andrews reviewed all of Arrington's MRI exams from the last three months, according to head coach Joe Gibbs.

"[Dr. Andrews] went over everything again and what we'll do is on Wednesday, LaVar will try to practice some," Gibbs said.

"And then from those next three days [from Wednesday through Friday], we'll probably determine [Arrington's status]. How does he feel? Does he feel like [the knee] is back to feeling good and he can make rapid progress? Or is it something that looks like it's going to continue to bother us here?"

If the knee is fine, then the biggest obstacle toward Arrington playing next Sunday would be how fast he can get his body conditioned enough for game day, Gibbs said.

Arrington has said that he'd like to return to the playing field before the season ends. With four games left, it appears team officials want to find out if that's feasible or not.

"We're running out of time," Gibbs said. "He's been running some, but he hasn't been practicing and doing all the things you have to do in practice."