FRISCO, TEXAS — The long awaited period has arrived. Defensive end Randy Gregory is eligible to play Sunday at Washington after being removed from the commissioner’s exempt list and placed on the Cowboys’ active roster. As a part of his conditional reinstatement by the league, he was cleared to begin practicing over the last two weeks but had been taking part in meetings and working out prior to.
Mike McCarthy told reporters, “We’ll see how the week of preparation goes but I thought he [Gregory] had an excellent week last week.”
Many players have echoed McCarthy’s remarks and raved about Gregory’s presence at practice, including Ezekiel Elliott.
“ Randy was lights out there today. It was really tough to block him. I’m excited to get Randy back. He’s got those fresh legs. He just looks better than I’ve ever seen him. “
The Cowboys’ pass rush has struggled throughout the season and the team is hopeful Gregory will boost the pressure off the edge and ignite a unit that has been underwhelming. The former second-round pick has not played in an NFL game since the 2018 divisional round playoff game against the Rams. Gregory had six sacks in 2018. Once Gregory was reinstated, the Cowboys signed him to a one-year extension through 2021.
In addition on defense, linebacker Leighton Vander Esch returned on Monday night against Arizona after missing four weeks on IR due to a broken collarbone. Both cornerback Chidobe Awuzie and linebacker Sean Lee are eligible to return this week from injured reserve but given the short workweek, Dallas could opt to hold off one more week to get them acclimated. Time and practice reps will be the determining factor.
“ I’m feeling great physically and hopefully this week I will be able to get out to practice, “ Lee told media on Wednesday. “ The hope is to get some individual work in and some scout team…I don’t know how far away. I know this- I’m excited to practice and the hope is that once I start practicing I can feel great; I can get into game shape and then help in any way I can. I’m excited to get back and get to practice. I didn’t have camp; I didn’t have any of that. So, I’ve been waiting to put the helmet on, put the pads on in practice. So hopefully sooner than later but I’ve got to go through he process still.”
