Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Gerald McCoy ruptured his right quadriceps tendon during the first padded practice of training camp Monday and will undergo season-ending surgery, according to team executive vice president Stephen Jones.
McCoy was hurt during individual drills and was unable to put weight on his leg after he was inspected by the team’s medical staff. Before ducking into the locker room, McCoy attempted to take some steps unassisted but could not. An MRI revealed the tear.
“I will remain the mentor I am to the young guys and do my part to make sure that this team goes where it needs to,” McCoy said in a text to ESPN’s Ed Werder. “As far as my mindset people deal with real life problems every day especially now with the state of our country.
“There is a lot of pain and heartache taking place right now that all our attention needs to go towards whether it is the pandemic or our fight for social justice. In retrospect what I’m dealing with is minimal compared to that. Therefore this is light work for me. Anybody who knows me knows I love a challenge. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!! I will be back better. LETS GET IT!!”
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The Cowboys signed McCoy to a three-year, $18 million deal in free agency as part of a rebuild of their defensive line that also included the additions of Aldon Smith, Dontari Poe and Everson Griffen, who has yet to practice but has cleared COVID-19 testing protocol.
“It’s obviously tough,” Jones said. “It’s part of the game. You see injuries around the league every day, and unfortunately that’s why you have to have a deep roster. Obviously you sign a guy like Everson Griffen, you never know when things like this are going to happen.”
Speaking before Jones named the injury, defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford said he spoke with McCoy after practice.
“Obviously it’s never fun to see a fellow D-lineman go down,” Crawford stated. “Having a guy like that that you just get to know, just get to make part of the family, it’s always sad to see, but obviously I have a lot of faith in our training staff and also a lot of experience, as you guys know, and I know they’ll get him back and get him back right and get him back on that field better than ever.”
Crawford suffered a torn Achilles early in the 2013 training camp in individual drills and could relate to McCoy’s injury.
“It’s never fun to have it happen like that because you weren’t even competing at that time,” Crawford said. “It’s a different feeling than if it was to happen during a physical football play against your teammates.”
McCoy, 32, spent his first nine campaigns in Tampa Bay before joining Carolina last season. He has missed more than three games in a season just once in his career.
Rookie Neville Gallimore and last year’s second-round pick, Trysten Hill, replaced McCoy at times during practice. “We know [McCoy] was fired up to be here, but it’s also disappointing for us,” Jones said. “He was one of our major acquisitions in the offseason in free agency, but having said that, this will give Trysten Hill and Neville Gallimore an opportunity to really step up now.”
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