DeMarcus Lawrence was arguably the single most encouraging player of the Cowboys' disappointing 2015 season.
The second-year defensive end had a team-high eight sacks while taking a significant leap forward and building on his strong close to his rookie year in 2014. In fact, it looks like he just might be the young pass rusher the Cowboys have been searching for since they drafted DeMarcus Ware.
But even the best stories seem to have sour notes for the Cowboys these days, and Lawrence is no different. The former Boise State standout had surgery after the season on his back and what the surgeons found was evidently more serious than anyone thought.
"He did something that was obviously a lot worse than what he was having," Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones told the Dallas Morning News Tuesday from the NFL Scouting Combine. "We were somewhat surprised that it was what it turned out to be. We thought it might be something a little less significant, but it's nothing that we have concerns about going forward."
Good news is, Lawrence is expected to be ready to participate in OTAs and be a full go for training camp, but even still, it's a concern that your hot, young pass-rusher is already undergoing back surgery — a fairly significant one at that.
