Mark Brunell will start Monday night's game against the Dallas Cowboys, head coach Joe Gibbs said on Saturday.

The veteran quarterback had been listed as questionable due to a hamstring injury suffered in last week's game against the New York Giants. But each day this week, the injury improved to the point that Brunell took the bulk of reps during Saturday afternoon's practice.

"Mark took two-thirds of the work [on Saturday] and looked good, so we'll start Mark," Gibbs said. "He took some work Friday and he felt okay. I think he feels comfortable with it. So hopefully he'll be ready to go."

Said Brunell: "Each day [the injury] has gotten better as I expected it would."

Gibbs said he made the decision to start Brunell during Saturday's practice.

"I made the decision this morning to let Mark take most of the work in practice," Gibbs said.

Brunell was confident in his preparation even though his reps were limited this week.

"Obviously, in practice, you'd like to get every rep, but I had a few more reps today than I did earlier in the week," Brunell said. "I know the game plan and I've watched a lot of film. So I'll be ready."

After two games, Brunell is 23-of-42 for 217 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He has been sacked only once.

Brunell injured his hamstring while scrambling out of the pocket during the third quarter of last week's 20-14 loss to the Giants.

Until Saturday, Patrick Ramsey, who will continue to back up Brunell, had taken most of the reps in practice this week.