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Jerry Jones confirms DeMarcus Lawrence suspension, draft impact
Jeffrey Kahn - 34 minutes ago 0
Newsletter
The Dallas Cowboys will head into the 2016 season down two defensive ends.
Defensive end Randy Gregory and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence will both miss the first four games of the regular season after each violating the league's substance abuse policy. The news of Lawrence's suspension was released last week, but the club did not announce an official ruling. On Monday, Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones confirmed the loss of Lawrence during the pre-draft press conference and he explained how it would impact the team for the upcoming draft.
"The loss of (Randy) Gregory and the loss of (DeMarcus) Lawrence is a setback and certainly that has put us on our horse, so to speak, to get in here and call on some guys to fill those voids," Jones said. "How it would impact us in this draft, I really don't think it has. We knew we wanted to address those positions with, I'm not going to even call it depth. We wanted to get in this draft players who could come in and have play time. And if they're good enough to have play time in my mind, then we can put together a front in there that can compete at a competitive level. It was a setback."
The Cowboys have yet to re-sign veteran defensive ends Jeremy Mincey and Greg Hardy. Although the team has no plans on bringing back Hardy, Mincey could still be an option. But it looks like the 'Boys are ready to fill their current position needs on the defensive line by way of the draft, adding rookies who can come in and immediately play in the NFL.
"As far as the decisions on not having, just on the roster, other players then that wasn't done to mother nature there," Jones said. "That was done by our decision and we thought we could, on either basis, with the kind of surprises, injury or suspensions that you can get, then we thought even if we made those [free-agent decisions] that we could put the team on the field out there that we were happy with. You can't have it all. We're going to be better in parts of this team than others. But the trick is to get the good parts to lift up the lesser parts."
Jones went on to explain how ability is availability. Having players available to play instead of sitting out in suspension is huge for the Cowboys.
"It doesn't do any good how good you are if you can't get out on the football field," Jones said. "You can't help us, and you should have consideration when you're either being brought to the team or drafted in any way we acquire personnel. Ability is availability."
Cowboys NFL Mock Draft rundown: Draft Week
With these setbacks, Jones' slogan will be accounted for when the Cowboys are picking their players in the 2016 NFL Draft which gets started on April 28.
Sent from my two thumbs using Tapatalk
Jeffrey Kahn - 34 minutes ago 0
Newsletter
The Dallas Cowboys will head into the 2016 season down two defensive ends.
Defensive end Randy Gregory and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence will both miss the first four games of the regular season after each violating the league's substance abuse policy. The news of Lawrence's suspension was released last week, but the club did not announce an official ruling. On Monday, Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones confirmed the loss of Lawrence during the pre-draft press conference and he explained how it would impact the team for the upcoming draft.
"The loss of (Randy) Gregory and the loss of (DeMarcus) Lawrence is a setback and certainly that has put us on our horse, so to speak, to get in here and call on some guys to fill those voids," Jones said. "How it would impact us in this draft, I really don't think it has. We knew we wanted to address those positions with, I'm not going to even call it depth. We wanted to get in this draft players who could come in and have play time. And if they're good enough to have play time in my mind, then we can put together a front in there that can compete at a competitive level. It was a setback."
The Cowboys have yet to re-sign veteran defensive ends Jeremy Mincey and Greg Hardy. Although the team has no plans on bringing back Hardy, Mincey could still be an option. But it looks like the 'Boys are ready to fill their current position needs on the defensive line by way of the draft, adding rookies who can come in and immediately play in the NFL.
"As far as the decisions on not having, just on the roster, other players then that wasn't done to mother nature there," Jones said. "That was done by our decision and we thought we could, on either basis, with the kind of surprises, injury or suspensions that you can get, then we thought even if we made those [free-agent decisions] that we could put the team on the field out there that we were happy with. You can't have it all. We're going to be better in parts of this team than others. But the trick is to get the good parts to lift up the lesser parts."
Jones went on to explain how ability is availability. Having players available to play instead of sitting out in suspension is huge for the Cowboys.
"It doesn't do any good how good you are if you can't get out on the football field," Jones said. "You can't help us, and you should have consideration when you're either being brought to the team or drafted in any way we acquire personnel. Ability is availability."
Cowboys NFL Mock Draft rundown: Draft Week
With these setbacks, Jones' slogan will be accounted for when the Cowboys are picking their players in the 2016 NFL Draft which gets started on April 28.
Sent from my two thumbs using Tapatalk
