Report: Greg Hardy, Rolando McClain To Play Up To 75 % of Snaps For Cowboys Today

It's not exactly breaking news that Rolando McClain and Greg Hardy will play for the Cowboys today against the Patriots. The suspensions for both players had been announced months ago, and those suspensions ended after Week 4, making both players eligible to return against the Patriots today.

What is new is the extent to which the Cowboys plan on playing them today, as ESPN's Ed Werder reports.

I'm told Greg Hardy and Rolando McClain will start for #Cowboys, play much as possible, rest when necessary. Could play 75 pct D snaps

— Ed Werder (@Edwerderespn) October 11, 2015

How much of an impact McClain and Hardy will have on the game remains to be seen, but their teammates and coaches are excited to have them back.

"Adding those guys, it's going to be great as far as energy, heart; hard-charging guys, some SOBs," Mincey said. "It's always good to have some SOBs."

"It's a little bit of fight, swagger. They're good ball players," defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said. "I think they absolutely love to play football. You like to get those types of men around you. So, it's nice to have them back."

Both players are expected to start today.

Rolando McClain will start as the middle linebacker, which will likely see Anthony Hitchens move over to strongside linebacker. Greg Hardy will get the start at right defensive end, where he'll share snaps with Jeremy Mincey. Mincey has also spent the week working much more at defensive tackle in practice, and could move inside on passing downs, which could give the Cowboys a defensive line of

DeMarcus Lawrence - Tyrone Crawford - Jeremy Mincey - Greg Hardy

which is already pretty close to what the Cowboys had envisioned going into the season. Rookie Randy Gregory will likely join the rotation after the bye week, and while the unit will likely still need some time to shake off the rust, the Cowboys' pass rush will look markedly different from the way it did the last few weeks.