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ByRainer Sabin / Reporter
rsabin@dallasnews.com | Bio
7:00 PM on Tue., Jun. 12, 2012
IRVING -- Marcus Spears admits he didn't have his best season in 2011. In fact, he called it "rocky." Spears, who has always been an introspective type, acknowledged he struggled with his new assignment after the defensive end was asked to move from the left to the right side.
Spears, who had signed a five-year contract worth approximately $19 million last July, never really warmed to the idea of hunting ball carriers and rushing passers from a completely different angle.
"I didn't really get a feel coming into training camp late," he said. "I fell behind the whole season, especially playing a new position at that point. So it was a tough adjustment and I didn't do as well as I wanted to do at it. But now I am back on my left side and I've got time to learn the defense."
Spears hopes that will lead to better results after he made little impact last season, when he accumulated 16 tackles and only one sack. Among the 32 3-4 defensive ends who played at least 25 percent of their team's snaps, Spears was rated the eighth-worst by ProFootballFocus.com.
"He did some really good things at different times and other times he didn't play quite as well but that is throughout our whole football team," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "Self-awareness is an important thing. He's a veteran player and he understands that and he works very hard to get himself physically in the best shape he can be and be ready to go and come back and have a really good year for us."
That's Spears' plan now that he is back on the left side, where he feels he has the best chance to contribute and keep a job in a cluttered defensive-end rotation that includes seven players.
"When you get up in the years, it gets tougher," Spears said. "So, it's just a thing. We're football players. We try to do our thing and go out and play as well as we can play and as hard as we can play and let the chips fall where they may. You know you're competing. But it's not something where you wake up in the morning, saying, 'I've got to beat this guy out.' You just play football and do your best."
Spears thinks he can do just that while attacking from the left side. After all, he said, "we all want to get back to what we're comfortable with."
rsabin@dallasnews.com | Bio
7:00 PM on Tue., Jun. 12, 2012
IRVING -- Marcus Spears admits he didn't have his best season in 2011. In fact, he called it "rocky." Spears, who has always been an introspective type, acknowledged he struggled with his new assignment after the defensive end was asked to move from the left to the right side.
Spears, who had signed a five-year contract worth approximately $19 million last July, never really warmed to the idea of hunting ball carriers and rushing passers from a completely different angle.
"I didn't really get a feel coming into training camp late," he said. "I fell behind the whole season, especially playing a new position at that point. So it was a tough adjustment and I didn't do as well as I wanted to do at it. But now I am back on my left side and I've got time to learn the defense."
Spears hopes that will lead to better results after he made little impact last season, when he accumulated 16 tackles and only one sack. Among the 32 3-4 defensive ends who played at least 25 percent of their team's snaps, Spears was rated the eighth-worst by ProFootballFocus.com.
"He did some really good things at different times and other times he didn't play quite as well but that is throughout our whole football team," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "Self-awareness is an important thing. He's a veteran player and he understands that and he works very hard to get himself physically in the best shape he can be and be ready to go and come back and have a really good year for us."
That's Spears' plan now that he is back on the left side, where he feels he has the best chance to contribute and keep a job in a cluttered defensive-end rotation that includes seven players.
"When you get up in the years, it gets tougher," Spears said. "So, it's just a thing. We're football players. We try to do our thing and go out and play as well as we can play and as hard as we can play and let the chips fall where they may. You know you're competing. But it's not something where you wake up in the morning, saying, 'I've got to beat this guy out.' You just play football and do your best."
Spears thinks he can do just that while attacking from the left side. After all, he said, "we all want to get back to what we're comfortable with."
