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With the horribly depleted ranks of the Rushmen, the sight of DeMarcus Ware standing on the sidelines wearing a baseball cap in the second half of the Washington Redskins game put a horribly sick feeling in the stomachs of Dallas Cowboys fans. It only got worse as reports emerged on ESPN that he was going to be out for weeks.
Sources told ESPN earlier Monday that Ware could be sidelined three to four weeks.
Ware had been an iron man as the leading edge rusher for the defense, playing in 134 straight games, 133 of them starts. The one game he didn't start, against the New Orleans Saints in 2009, he was not expected to play in. But he came off the bench and contributed two sacks. 2013 has seen him suffering a variety of maladies, and the fact that he was not going to be available for an important game against the Philadelphia Eagles, with the division lead at stake, was, well, depressing, even though Ware himself tried to put up a brave front.
"I did talk to DeMarcus and he seemed optimistic he could be back out there," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said after the game. "My instinct or what I heard doesn't seem long-term there with [Ware's injury]."
Of course, we all know that Jerry Jones is not the epitome of accurate sources for player health updates.
But wait just a moment before you grab another bottle of tequila to drown your sorrows.
Starting to look more and more like DeMarcus Ware will play Sunday at Philly. So much for 3-4 weeks, which was confusing when announced.
— Jeff Sullivan (@SullyBaldHead) October 17, 2013
Wait. What? Good news on the injury front for the top Rushman himself?
Mike Fisher explains that things might not be as bad as the initial reports had it.
Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Ware has never missed a game in his Hall-of-Fame-caliber career. And he is buoyed today by indications that his quad injury - originally discussed as a Grade-1 strain that might require 10-to-14 days of inactivity - is actually much more mild than that.
Now Ware has announced that he is traveling with the team, and playing will be a game day decision. Which I have to interpret as meaning that 94 will be present for duty if at all possible.
It is clearly a positive development for the Cowboys. I do wonder how the original reports became so doom and gloom, despite seeing several quotes from Ware that were fairly optimistic. Maybe our own Dawn Macelli figured it out.
I am beginning to wonder if, considering those tweets and the hints Murray has dropped about prepping for the Eagles, the Valley Ranch Ministry of Misinformation might have reversed its course from understating injuries to overstate them.
Of course, there is also this, offered with no further commentary whatsoever.
@SullyBaldHead of course, only DWare 'announcements' of 3-4 weeks came from Connecticut right?
— mike fisher (@fishsports) October 17, 2013
I'm just hoping for the best here, myself. Some good news would be nice, for a change.
