Getty Images DeMarcus Lawrence has been fighting through a torn shoulder.
Staying healthy in the NFL is always a difficult task. Playing through a total of 16 games, plus more can cause a lot of wear-and-tear on these guys bodies. And the craziest part about it all is that some players don’t even need contact to get injured as ACL tears are becoming more common by the year. Some guys miss a ton of time throughout their careers, and others get lucky and mostly avoid injuries. But if you’re Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, you don’t care that you’re injured.
We’re not talking about a couple bumps and bruises here either. We are talking about an actual injury that needs surgery and could cause players to miss their seasons. It’s not like that’s never happened before, but it definitely isn’t a frequent event.
On Friday, Lawrence popped up on the Cowboys injury report as he missed practice due to a shoulder injury. Although he isn’t expected to miss this week’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, some were surprised to hear that Lawrence’s injury is actually not recent. And in fact, he’s been dealing with it for the past two years.
What Lawrence Told the Media
Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence said he has a torn labrum in his shoulder and has been playing through it for two years. Said he’d think about possibly having surgery to repair it this offseason. Said he was in a lot of pain Sunday at Houston but feels much better now.
Dallas Morning News Cowboys reporter Brandon George got the scoop on Friday regarding Lawrence’s injury. It’s kind of strange that nobody was really aware of this injury, but again, sometimes teams don’t always report injuries when players don’t plan on missing games.
Before Lawrence’s breakout season in 2017, he has been known to miss quite a few games due to injuries. Last year, Lawrence totaled up 58 tackles and 14.5 sacks as he dominated in the trenches for the Cowboys defense during his contract year. He didn’t get offered the big extension that he desired, but it’s clear that he’s working for it once again in 2018.
So far, Lawrence is heading back down the same road as he continues to dominate up front with 22 tackles and 5.5 sacks through five weeks. The veteran defensive end made it clear that he was going to do his best to avoid missing time this year. But there’s a good chance that he will decide to finally fix his torn labrum as soon as he inks a new deal for a much bigger payday. After all, Lawrence deserves it.