ARLINGTON, Texas – Saturday night's preseason game against Minnesota was Sean Lee's first game action since Dec. 9, 2013 in a regular-season game at Chicago.
The Cowboys' veteran linebacker felt the adrenaline, and a little rust, playing in front of the home crowd at AT&T Stadium for the first time in nearly two years in his return from last year's season-ending knee injury.
"At times a little bit rusty," Lee said. "I think as I got in the flow of the game I felt better and better. But I only played 15 to 20 plays. It's about playing 60 to 70 plays and being able to do that effectively and I still have a lot of work to do."
Lee was credited with three tackles (two solo), all coming on a single Vikings scoring drive in the first quarter. Two of his stops came in the red zone to help hold Minnesota's offense to a field goal.
"His night was good," head coach Jason Garrett said. "I think Sean ended up playing 17 plays in the game and was very active. He had hits on the ball, was around the ball a lot, and really looked like his old self."
As expected, Lee started at weakside linebacker, a position switch from his old spot in the middle. Lee said he's comfortable at the "Will" position because he played it in college and early in his NFL career.
The Cowboys deliberately eased Lee back into a full workload this spring and summer. With two weeks until the Cowboys' Sept. 13 regular-season opener, Lee believes he's right on track to play at his best then.
"I still have a lot of work to do, still have room to improve, still have to get better conditioning wise," he said. "But I think I'm on track to be ready."
