IRVING, Texas - At this point in the season, and in his career, DeMarcus Ware doesn't think about playing at full strength.
Being "completely healthy" is probably never going to happen the rest of his career and that's something the ninth-year defensive end has always understood.
But as he prepares to rehab his quad strain with the hopes of playing Sunday vs. Minnesota, Ware said he's not worried about getting back to 100 percent.
"Actually, it doesn't have to be 100 percent," Ware said. "If it's 94 percent, I'll be alright."
And the Cowboys would certainly be alright in seeing No. 94 back on the field again, sooner rather than later. However, they won't rush back this particular injury. Ware has a slight tear in his quad, which could develop into a bigger problem if he returns before it's fully healed.
"Right now, I just want to be smart about it," said Ware, who had never missed a game in his career before sitting out these last two. "It's tough to be on the sidelines when you're teammates are out there. But right now, it's a day-to-day thing. There's no (timetable) for this thing. It's progressing each day and I'm trying to get ready for this week. If not this week, then the next week." [embedded_ad]
Ware says there is no soreness with the quad.
"It just more about functionality right now," Ware said. "I'm just trying to get it stronger."
Ware ranks third on the defense with four sacks behind Jason Hatcher (seven) and George Selvie (five). While both players ahead of him have already reached their career-highs in sacks, Ware is only halfway to his career-low in sacks with eight, the total in his rookie season in 2005. Since that year, he's been in double-digits every season.
While this has been a frustrating year for Ware in terms of missing games, he has become the Cowboys' all-time leader in sacks, surpassing Harvey Martin's record of 114 sacks. Ware now has 115 in his career.
Time will tell when he'll even have the opportunity to get the next one.
