A year ago, defensive end/nose tackle Sean Lissemore came into camp without drawing much attention from the coaching staff. He had only appeared in two games in his rookie season of 2010, and his own position coach (defensive line coach) Brian Baker now admits that he had a tenuous grasp on Lissemore’s name.
But that’s all changed now.
“Shoot, I started training camp last year not even knowing who Sean Lissemore was, other than he was some guy on our team,” Baker said, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I didn’t do him in college. I didn’t have a familiarity with him. I saw him so little in the season because he was hurt. And we didn’t have an OTA.
“But it didn’t take long for me to get to know him in training camp.”
Lissemore followed up on that training camp with a nice sophomore season in 2011, recording 28 tackles (four for a loss) and three sacks. Defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, who (along with Baker) wasn’t terribly impressed by Lissemore’s game film from 2010, was won over in 2011. Now, he’s a believer. And though Lissemore missed a good deal of mini-camp and OTAs with a rib injury, Ryan doesn’t believe that will slow his development much.
“He’s been through an incredible offseason with Mike Woicik,” Ryan said. “This guy, his body’s changing, everything about him. He’s so fast for the game now. He knows his assignments. He’s doing a great job. The nice thing is, if we ever get in a situation where, God forbid, somebody gets hurt, Sean Lissemore can jump in in any spot and be an effective starter.”
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