When Sean Lee went down for the season with a torn ACL on the first day of organized team activities back in May, the Dallas Cowboys found themselves in need not only of a middle linebacker, but a leader of men as well.
The team thinks they may have found just such a package in Justin Durant, who has answered the call for the Cowboys over the past few months in Lee’s absence.
"With Sean's injury we needed LBs to step up and he certainly is one of them who's taken charge," said head coach Jason Garrett, per ESPN Dallas. "One of the examples was on the tape to our team last night of him just running all over this field the last couple days against the Raiders, playing with a relentless spirit and making a lot of plays. He's really showing command and decisiveness playing that spot. He's really had a good camp."
Durant’s rise is all the more impressive is naturally a strong side linebacker. But he’s taken to the middle with aplomb.
"I'm feeling really confident--confident and comfortable," Durant said. "Like I said, the more reps that I got, the better I was going to feel. Throughout this whole camp, I've just been focusing on the Mike. I think that if you go and look at it, I'm feeling really comfortable with the reads, comfortable with everything that's going on."
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