Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Ware missed the first three games of his NFL career during the 2013 season as a quadriceps injury forced him out of the lineup.
That’s hardly the first injury Ware has suffered, though. He’s picked up numerous aches and pains over the years, causing him to miss practice time as the team made sure he was ready for Sundays. Coach Jason Garrett appreciates the need to keep Ware healthy for games, but said that the loss of practice time has hurt Ware on the field.
“He’s missed a lot of practice time over the last couple of years because of all these injuries, and that’s something that really can impact a player, even a player of his caliber. You need to practice,” Garrett said, via Carlos Mendez of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “We’ve got to get him to the point where he’s healthy and he can practice and he can get himself ready to play the way he’s capable of playing.”
Ware, who turns 32 this summer, had six sacks in 2013, the lowest total of his career and the first time he’s averaged less than half a sack per game in his Cowboys career. His contract is set to pay him $32 million over the next two years and the Cowboys will need to get more from Ware to justify that payout even if they wind up restructuring it to help their cap situation in the near term.