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Zach Minter shines in first game
August, 17, 2014
By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Who the heck is Zach Minter?
The Dallas Cowboys signed the defensive tackle last Thursday, he practiced once and saw significant action in Saturday’s 37-30 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, sparking something of a comeback. He played two games last year with the Chicago Bears and also spent time with the Cincinnati Bengals.
“It wasn’t that hard,” Minter said. “I had been in [Rod] Marinelli’s system before so it was kind of easy to get the grasp on it. But I still have to do some homework and just kind of study the playbook before the game.”
Minter was bowled over on a Ravens touchdown run but after that sprung to life with a pressure, a tackle for loss and a sack in a five-play span in the fourth quarter. He finished the game with four tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.
“We talk a lot about how life’s all about opportunity, creating them and taking advantage of them,” coach Jason Garrett said. “You think about a guy like Minter who just showed up, I don’t know how many plays he played, but I bet it was over 50 percent of the plays that he was in there, he had some kind of an impact on the football, whether it was a tackle for a loss or a sack. He just seemed to be all over the place, so he had a chance to show us what he can do in a short period of time, and he certainly flashed at us.”
It was reminiscent of what George Selvie did in the preseason last year, earning a spot after he was something of a camp body when he signed. He ended up starting every game and coming up with seven sacks.
“I did the same thing last year,” Selvie said, “so I got excited for him.”
