Cowboys DE Ben Gardner “Knocking the Rust Off”

After missing all of his rookie season with torn ligaments in his left shoulder, suffered in training camp, Cowboys’ defensive end Ben Gardner is getting back into the swing of things in organized team activities--and not surprisingly, the 2014 seventh round pick out of Stanford is glad to be back.

“I’m feeling better each time physically and I’m feeling more and more confident,” Gardner said, per the Dallas Morning News. “Overall, I think I’ve been knocking the rust off and kind of jumping back in. I’m just excited to be a part of this group because we got a lot of talent on the D-line.”

Gardner is joining a Cowboys’ defensive line group that is quite a bit deeper than the one we saw throughout the 2014 season. They added Greg Hardy in free agency and drafted Randy Gregory in the second round. DeMarcus Lawrence, who missed the first ten games of his rookie season, is healthy once again. If Gardner comes out of camp with a roster spot, he’ll be part of a group that he thinks could be special.

“I think there’s just a lot of competition across the board, there’s 10-12 guys that can really play,” Gardner said. “It’s going to make for one heck of a training camp and hopefully a heck of a season where we can put up some better sack numbers. I’m excited to be a part of this group because I think we’ve added some talent and we really have a bright future. I think we can be a great defense.”