The Dallas Cowboys are just days removed from their second loss of the season to the Washington Redskins. The loss was hard to swallow but seemingly even harder to deal with was the loss of Cowboy’s linebacker, Captain, and leading tackler, Justin Durant. During Monday nights game Durant suffered a torn biceps injury and has been ruled out for the rest of the season. This was a another huge blow to a patchwork defense looking for leaders and playmakers.
Second string linebacker Kyle Wilbur will likely fill in for the time being however the Cowboy’s did sign veteran linebacker Tim Dobbins who spent time with the Houston Texans, San Diego Chargers, and began the year on the Falcon’s 90 preseason roster.
In the beginning of the season The Cowboy’s defense was talked about as being quite the worst ever assembled. This has since been proven wrong however one of the anticipated players on that side of the ball was Demarcus Lawrence. The Cowboys traded up in the draft to get Lawrence early in the second round making him one of the most anticipated defense draft picks in recent Cowboy’s history.
Then reality hit early in training camp when Sean Lee picked up another season-ending injury. Lawrence was deemed instantly necessary for the Cowboy’s defense this season. Not soon after Lee's injury, Lawrence suffered a broken foot which have kept him out for the first half of the NFL regular season.
Now sitting at 6-2 the Cowboys are getting Lawrence back at a time when they need him the most. The defensive end is expected to make his Cowboy’s debut this Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. Coach of the Cowboy’s defense Rod Marinelli has propelled this unit to the height of contention using players who even the most seasoned NFL fan had no idea existed.
Now he gets to work with a second round pick whom boasts a 40 time of 4.69 seconds and in two seasons with the Boise State Bronco’s amassed 20 sacks. Lawrence has been working on conditioning and individual drills allowing him to not only gain a better understanding of the game but put on 10 extra pounds of muscle. There is the potential that Lawrence could be the last key piece to an average Cowboy’s pass rush. One thing that has been made clear is that Marinelli can bring out the best in any defender on that roster, it will be exciting to see if he can continue that trend with Lawrence.
