The Cowboys haven’t had defensive end Anthony Spencer in the lineup in more than a year, but that stretch should come to an end this Sunday against the Saints.
Spencer has been practicing for the last couple of weeks and said Thursday that he plans to play in his first game since Week One of last season. Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said that Spencer won’t take on a full workload right away, but that he thinks a little Spencer can go a long way toward helping the defense.
“That’s probably No. 1, is make sure we don’t overuse him,” Marinelli said, via the team’s site. “He’s kind of on a pitch count. But, you know, he’s had a good week of work. He hasn’t played in a year, so he’s practiced well. He’s got all the stuff you want. Hopefully this week and every week after this he gets better and better, and now you look for matchups. Once you get a guy like that, then it starts helping everybody.”
It remains to be seen how much Spencer resembles the player he was before having microfracture surgery last year, but the Cowboys can use all the potential pass rushing help they can find up front right now. They have three sacks in three games, only one of which comes from the defensive line, and Spencer offers at least the promise of better results.
