The Dallas Cowboys made a lot of adjustments on defense in the offseason and they will get a first look at everyone when the team takes on San Diego in the first preseason game of the season. Some of the biggest and most controversial additions came on defense as Greg Hardy and Randy Gregory were brought on board. Now they are both competing for a starting job on the line.
According to Hardy, he is simply just ready to get on the field. The defensive end has not played since Week 1 of last season following an arrest on domestic violence charges. Hardy will not be available for the first four games of the season after getting suspended by the league, but that does not mean he will not see plenty of playing time in the preseason as the Cowboys intend for him to be the starting defensive end and help anchor the defense upon his return to the field. Head coach Jason Garrett confirmed that there is a plan in place to handle how much time Hardy and others see on the field.
"We'll take Greg on the same kind of course that we would take most of our veteran players," Garrett said, via Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "Probably similar to what we did with Orlando Scandrick last year. Give them an opportunity to progress over the course of the preseason and play more each game. This will be his first game playing [in almost a year], so you want to be careful about saying, 'OK, you're going to play 80 reps in this game because that will catch you all up.' We're going to progress him normally like you would after two weeks of training camp, and hopefully it'll be a good, positive work for him."
With Hardy getting plenty of playing time, the Cowboys are hopeful that Gregory is ready to step up when the defensive end begins his suspension. The controversial first-round draft pick has been impressing so far during training camp. Gregory has been learning behind Hardy, something Dallas felt would be helpful to the rookie and he is hopeful to just simply show that he can play after getting red flagged during the draft.
"I'm ready to show what I can do on the field," Gregory said, via the team website. "I'm ready to obviously hit somebody else besides my teammates and show the plays we're learning. Hopefully I can go out there and not make any mental errors and get off the ball. It'll be kind of cool playing against another team and being in front of some of the guys who you've looked up to for so long and now I'm playing on the same field as them."
The Cowboys also have some competition brewing in the secondary. Brandon Carr will not be available following a broken hand. That leaves the starting rotation up to players like Byron Jones, Orlando Scandrick and Morris Claiborne. Of that bunch, Claiborne has the most to prove. If he fails to impress in the preseason, he could be one of the preseason roster cuts Dallas makes.
