Randy Gregory’s impending return has Cowboys players excited

It won’t be long until Randy Gregory returns to the Dallas Cowboys roster. The Cowboys defensive end was reinstated before the season began, but he was forced to wait until Week 7 before he could actually see any game action. That will be the game after the Cardinals, against the Washington Football Team.

Gregory was allowed to return to practice starting last week. According to one of his teammates, Gregory is looking as good as can be.

“Randy was lights out there today,” Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott said Thursday. “It was really tough to block him. I’m excited to get Randy back. He’s got those fresh legs. He just looks better than I’ve ever seen him. I’m excited to see him back.”

The Cowboys could certainly use another pass rusher. Starting the season, it didn’t really seem to be a position of need with DeMarcus Lawrence, Aldon Smith, and Everson Griffen. But thus far in the season, only Smith has produced any kind of consistent pressure in the backfield.

Smith is tied for seventh in the league with four sacks through his five games, but DeMarcus Lawrence only has one so far (although it was a huge on versus the Giants), and Everson Griffen has 1.5 sacks.

Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan had this to say about Gregory earlier this week:

“But he has been out on the field working, and the work has been good,” Nolan said. “I know he started a few weeks ago whenever that was. You could tell he was out of shape, and even he himself said he had to get his wind back and things like that. He’s a little bit heavier than he was before when he was playing. ...I think getting in shape, he’ll drop a few pounds in the process. But, look, I remember when he came out as many people do, and he’s a very athletic individual that’s a good football player. ...We’ll certainly be able to use him when he does become available to us.”