OXNARD, Calif. – On Tuesday, DeMarcus Lawrence was working on his pass-rush moves and finding a way to beat Tyron Smith in a drill.
On Wednesday, he's heading back to Dallas.
On Thursday, he'll be having surgery to repair a broken bone in his foot.
That's how quickly things can change for an NFL player, especially one like Lawrence whom the Cowboys have high hopes for. He was supposed to be one of the players that could fill the void of DeMarcus Ware and help a pass rush that struggled mightily in 2013.
Now, the Cowboys will have to wait anywhere from 2-3 months before getting some contribution from their second-round pick. Getting Lawrence also required a third-round pick in a trade to move up for the 34th spot.
"He'll have to go back to Dallas and have surgery on it," said head coach Jason Garrett, who confirmed the 8-12 week timetable. "He was off to a good start in camp. There's still a lot of football left in the season after 8-12 weeks."
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Lawrence will likely have surgery, recover from the procedure a few days and then should be able to return to Oxnard to be with his teammates, coaches and medical staff before the team breaks camp on Aug. 15.
Garrett said the Cowboys are still working on moving guys around to fill in for Lawrence's injury.
"None of these things with our depth chart are etched in stone," Garrett said. "He was working with the second unit. We'll just move guys around."
One of those guys will be Kyle Wilber, who has been playing SAM linebacker. He'll likely rotate into the defense on pass-rushing downs. Look for Tyrone Crawford to have a bigger role in the defensive line rotation as well.
