Dallas Cowboys Training Camp: DeMarcus Ware, Jay Ratliff Could Be Limited Early

Dallas Cowboys star pass rusher DeMarcus Ware had said that he plans to “do everything” during the team’s training camp, which opens this weekend, but head coach Jason Garrett did not seem as convinced that Ware will be able to fully participate during the early goings of camp. 

Ware, along with teammates Jay Ratliff (sports hernia), Danny Coale (knee) and Mackenzy Bernadeau (shoulder) could all be limited early in camp.

Garrett stated that the team’s medical staff has a plan for each of the players to ensure they are fully healthy and not at risk of further injury when they finally step out on to the field.

“We’ll have to monitor those guys and a couple of guys and see how they are,” Garrett said, via ESPN Dallas. “We’ll do the conditioning test on Day 1 of training camp and see where they are physically after that and make some decisions. We have a plan for each of those guys going into it, based on what their injury has been and different start dates for some guys, different ways to work back into training camp and work back into football.”

Garrett also spoke specifically about Ware’s situation.

“We’ll just see how he is,” Garrett said. “He made great progress in the offseason. He was involved in a lot of the individual drills that we did throughout the OTAs and the minicamps and we just kept him out of the more competitive 11-on-11 situations. He’s made great progress coming off the injuries from last year and he works very hard at it. We’ll certainly be smart going forward and see how he is each and every day. He seems excited and he seems ready to go.”

Ware is working to transition back to defensive end, where he played in college, as the team moves to their new 4-3 scheme under new defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin.

To ensure the defense is able to gel and get valuable preparation time under their belts, Dallas will have to hope that Ware and Ratliff will be able to fully participate sooner rather than later.