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Ratliff Could Miss Sept. 5 Opener With High Ankle Sprain
Posted 37 minutes ago

Nick Eatman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
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ARLINGTON, Texas - Even though Jay Ratliff missed several practices and the first two preseason games because of a foot injury, the theory all along was that he would be playing if the regular season were upon us.

That’s probably not the case anymore, and it’s not because of the plantar fasciitis that has bothered him all offseason.

Ratliff now has a high-ankle sprain with which to deal, suffering the damage in the second quarter of Saturday’s 20-19 win over the Rams at Cowboys Stadium. Before his injury, Ratliff was flying around the ball and playing like a guy who has made four straight Pro Bowls.

One source in the locker room said, “He’s playing” when asked about the nature of Ratliff’s injury, obviously referring to the Sept. 5 season opener against the Giants. The Cowboys have not sent out an official injury report following the game.

While his defensive teammates used the word “warrior” to describe Ratliff, even outside linebacker Anthony Spencer said seeing Ratliff on crutches is enough to worry about.

“It probably just happened, so they are probably just being cautious right now,” Spencer said. “But when you can't walk and you're walking on crutches, it is a little alarming. Hopefully he'll be all right and will get back out there."

While all injuries are different, the high-ankle sprain is typically in the 2-4 week timetable range. More often than not, linemen seem to come back quicker than the speedy receivers and defensive backs that do more sprinting and cutting.

If Ratliff does miss some time, the Cowboys would likely lean on third-year pro Josh Brent and possibly defensive end Marcus Spears, who said after the game he’s only played “a handful” of snaps at nose tackle this year.

“I’m just trying to make this team right now,” Spears said. “But I’ve (played nose) before. I’ve done it, and I’m comfortable with it. But they haven’t said anything to me about it. We’re still trying to find out about Jay.”
 
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Spears is, and always has been a very humble and reasonable person.

I wish he was more talented. Still, I'm hoping he makes the final 53.
 

Theebs

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Spears is, and always has been a very humble and reasonable person.

I wish he was more talented. Still, I'm hoping he makes the final 53.

I think he will now.

Its risky to have guys who have not played under the bright lights and take them to ny and seattle to start a season.

We are going to miss ratliff, he is around the qb whenever there is pressure. The giants have proven they can block and scheme ware out of the way, nobody can scheme interior pressure away and ratliff is the only guy who can do that.....

we will be okay in the running game I bet....or hope, but as far as pressure goes this is a huge blow to not have him in ny.
 

bbgun

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Why is it always high ankle sprains? Whatever happened to conventional ankle sprains?
 
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All in all we made it out of preseason pretty unscathed. I'll take it

Just wish there more games though. Romo needs to get in rhythm in order to play well.
 

dbair1967

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Rat looked great last night. Sucks but at least he isn’t done for the season. He will be back.

I agree, he looked very explosive. Looked back in the form he had from 2007-2009. Definitely a bummer he got hurt, but its par for the course with this team so far. We just cant go a day without somebody getting hurt.
 

Theebs

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I dont think he or witten will play in week 1 personally.

The team is just not going to say that.
 

Theebs

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Clarence Hill ‏@clarencehilljr
mri confirms high ankle as expected for ratliff..out two to four weeks..may miss opener and may back for week two versus seahawks
 

dbair1967

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Just guessing, but I bet we dont see Ratliff till after the bye week, unless he really had a minor sprain
 

LAZARUS_LOGAN

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I think he will now.

Its risky to have guys who have not played under the bright lights and take them to ny and seattle to start a season.

We are going to miss ratliff, he is around the qb whenever there is pressure. The giants have proven they can block and scheme ware out of the way, nobody can scheme interior pressure away and ratliff is the only guy who can do that.....

we will be okay in the running game I bet....or hope, but as far as pressure goes this is a huge blow to not have him in ny.


I disagree. Hatcher can.
 
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Garrett says NT Jay Ratliff could ‘possibly play’ against Giants
By Rainer Sabin / Reporter
12:24 pm on August 27, 2012

IRVING — Jay Ratliff has 64 consecutive regular-season games. But doubt has surfaced about whether he’ll be able to extend his streak of appearances when the Cowboys face the New York Giants in the Sept. 5 opener. After all, Ratliff suffered a high-ankle sprain Saturday in Dallas’ 20-19 victory over St. Louis and the type of injury isn’t easily overcome.

But head coach Jason Garrett said Monday that he isn’t necessarily ruling out Ratliff for the showdown with the Cowboys’ NFC East nemesis.

“We feel like he has a chance to practice at some point in the near future and possibly play in this ball game,” Garrett said. “We just have to evaluate him day to day. He’s a tough guy like everybody knows and he’s made progress since the game. So, again, he’s not going to practice today and he’s not going to practice tomorrow. He probably won’t play in the game on Wednesday, but we’ll see how is as we start preparing for the Giants.”

Before he suffered his latest setback, Ratliff had been battling plantar fasciitis in his foot. The condition prevented the four-time Pro Bowler from practicing during the off-season and in the early part of training camp, which gave the Cowboys plenty of time to evaluate backups Sean Lissemore and Josh Brent. But Garrett isn’t ready to break out their contingency plans.

“That’s premature,” Garrett said. “We just want to see what [Ratliff's] availability is the next couple of days, and hopefully he will be able to practice by week’s end.”
 
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