PFT: Randy Gregory hoping to pick up where he left off before injury

[Cotton]

Randy Gregory hoping to pick up where he left off before injury

Posted by Darin Gantt on October 21, 2015, 8:15 AM EDT

If the Cowboys could get all their pass-rushers on the field at the same time, they might be onto something.

And they appear to be getting closer to that point.

According to Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News, rookie defensive end Randy Gregory said he was ready to return this week against the Giants, after suffering a high ankle sprain in the opener.

“Physically, yeah,” Gregory said when asked if he felt 100 percent. “Mentally, I think I’m still trying to get past that point that I can trust it enough to play on it.”

Gregory had a solid preseason, and the second-rounder was off to what appeared to be a good start before the injury.

“If I come out a little rusty, that’s kind of expected in some ways,” Gregory said, “but I definitely fully expect to come out there and pick up where I left off.”

If he can, and pairs with Greg Hardy, who had 2.0 sacks in his first game back from suspension, the Cowboys have serious potential up front. And given the current state of their offense, that’s exactly what they need.

 

[Cotton]

Randy Gregory doesn't expect to be rusty in return

Todd Archer, ESPN Staff Writer

IRVING, Texas – While the Dallas Cowboys’ offense is waiting for the return to health of Dez Bryant and Tony Romo, the defense is getting up to full strength.

Rookie defensive end Randy Gregory will play Sunday against the New York Giants after missing the last four games because of a high-ankle sprained suffered in the season opener against the Giants.

Until he gets through Wednesday’s practice, Gregory isn’t sure how well he will play in the rematch with New York. He went through two shorter practices during last week’s bye week and physically the ankle feels fine.

“Mentally I think I’m still trying to get past that point where I can trust it enough to plant on it and everything like that,” Gregory said. “But that’s what I had last week and this week, (Wednesday’s) practice, full pads, hopefully my confidence will get a little bit of a boost there.”

Gregory was credited with three quarterback pressures of Eli Manning before getting hurt. He was the Cowboys most effective pass rusher in that game after a productive preseason in which he recorded three sacks.

“If I come out a little rusty that’s kind of expected I guess in some ways,” Gregory said, “but I definitely fully expect to come out there and pick up where I left off.”

 

[ravidubey]

I want to see Lawrence, Gregory, Hardy, and Crawford on every 3rd and 5 or longer.

 

[DLK150]

Any improvement is welcome at this point. The defense is going to have to step up and shoulder some of the load if the offense still can't really get going.

 

[townsend]

I'll be seriously let down if the defense doesn't cause at least 2 turnovers. This is the full strength D we've been waiting for for nearly half the season. With McClain, Gregory, Hardy, and Lee together for the first time, some magic should be happening.

 

[ravidubey]

I'll be seriously let down if the defense doesn't cause at least 2 turnovers. This is the full strength D we've been waiting for for nearly half the season. With McClain, Gregory, Hardy, and Lee together for the first time, some magic should be happening.

Regardless of what the defense does, somehow some way Dallas has to disrupt the Giant's rhythm and make them feel like they need to pass to win. Then it's over.

Pathetic as our offense has been, I don't know if Dallas can get that kind of lead.

 

[townsend]

Regardless of what the defense does, somehow some way Dallas has to disrupt the Giant's rhythm and make them feel like they need to pass to win. Then it's over.

Pathetic as our offense has been, I don't know if Dallas can get that kind of lead.

I mean they did against Atlanta, multiple times. But unfortunately that's a symptom of the disease that killed us. 90% of our meaningful runs occured in a handful of plays. We need to rushing game to be taking consistent bites, and the passing game to be ripping off big chunks, Not vise verse.

 

[ravidubey]

I mean they did against Atlanta, multiple times. But unfortunately that's a symptom of the disease that killed us. 90% of our meaningful runs occured in a handful of plays. We need to rushing game to be taking consistent bites, and the passing game to be ripping off big chunks, Not vise verse.

Thankfully New York is not as explosive as Atlanta and let's face it, not even the Falcons thought Freeman was going to be the monster he was. And he had to have his coming-out party against Dallas.

Dallas couldn't stop Freeman, so we lost.

We couldn't stop Mark Ingram when we needed to.

We couldn't stop Lagarrette Blount or Dion Lewis either, and that was with Hardy and McClain back.

So IMO it comes down to one thing: can the Cowboys shut down the 3rd worst rushing attack in the conference? Because they couldn't stop the worst (Saints) and it will probably be the reason they lose to Seattle (1st overall), too.

The only thing that's come close to helping us before was Romo would score and we'd possess the ball so long the other team would have to pass.

Now there's no escaping the gaping weakness up the middle, so guys like McClain and Lee are going to have to gut up and make the fucking plays until Romo gets back.

 

[Clay_Allison]

Thankfully New York is not as explosive as Atlanta and let's face it, not even the Falcons thought Freeman was going to be the monster he was. And he had to have his coming-out party against Dallas.

Dallas couldn't stop Freeman, so we lost.

We couldn't stop Mark Ingram when we needed to.

We couldn't stop Lagarrette Blount or Dion Lewis either, and that was with Hardy and McClain back.

So IMO it comes down to one thing: can the Cowboys shut down the 3rd worst rushing attack in the conference? Because they couldn't stop the worst (Saints) and it will probably be the reason they lose to Seattle (1st overall), too.

The only thing that's come close to helping us before was Romo would score and we'd possess the ball so long the other team would have to pass.

Now there's no escaping the gaping weakness up the middle, so guys like McClain and Lee are going to have to gut up and make the fucking plays until Romo gets back.

We're 10th in the league in rush defense, 16th in yards per carry allowed. Teams have attempted 177 passes and 121 runs against us so we haven't caused them to completely abandon the pass yet.

 

[ravidubey]

We're 10th in the league in rush defense, 16th in yards per carry allowed. Teams have attempted 177 passes and 121 runs against us so we haven't caused them to completely abandon the pass yet.

I feel the games against the discombobulated Philly offense and a poor NYG rush offense skewed the stats in favor of our defense.

Against legit rushing attacks we're weak and without the offense scoring we're outright failing.

Even when the offense scored we failed vs. the Falcons.

 

[townsend]

I feel the games against the discombobulated Philly offense and a poor NYG rush offense skewed the stats in favor of our defense.

Against legit rushing attacks we're weak and without the offense scoring we're outright failing.

Even when the offense scored we failed vs. the Falcons.

I think it's no coincidence that NYG and Philly were discombobulated against us while we were making some effort to hold on to the ball. Imagine if we had actually sustained drives in the second half of the game vs Atlanta. It probably would have been a dominant victory on our part.

 

[Simpleton]

The Patriots have one of the best, if not the best offenses in the league, and we held them to 13 points in the 1st half, 3 of which were off a 57 yard FG, despite the fact that the offense went 3 and out 6 out of 7 drives and constantly gave the Patriots the ball around their own 35-40 yard line because the offense couldn't get off their own 20-25 yard line.

That in itself tells you the defense is good, there is no defense in the entire league that can hold up over the course of a 4 quarters with an offense going 3 and out as often as ours did the last few games.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

The Patriots have one of the best, if not the best offenses in the league, and we held them to 13 points in the 1st half, 3 of which were off a 57 yard FG, despite the fact that the offense went 3 and out 6 out of 7 drives and constantly gave the Patriots the ball around their own 35-40 yard line because the offense couldn't get off their own 20-25 yard line.

That in itself tells you the defense is good, there is no defense in the entire league that can hold up over the course of a 4 quarters with an offense going 3 and out as often as ours did the last few games.

We just need a respectable passing attack. We aren't Andy Reid. We can't survive just never completing passes to WRs.

 

[skidadl]

The Patriots have one of the best, if not the best offenses in the league, and we held them to 13 points in the 1st half, 3 of which were off a 57 yard FG, despite the fact that the offense went 3 and out 6 out of 7 drives and constantly gave the Patriots the ball around their own 35-40 yard line because the offense couldn't get off their own 20-25 yard line.

That in itself tells you the defense is good, there is no defense in the entire league that can hold up over the course of a 4 quarters with an offense going 3 and out as often as ours did the last few games.

That's exactly right.

Our lack of offense gives the opponent lots of options for their offense as well. They can game plan aggressively or conservatively sine we can't move the ball.

Romos head has to be expanding week by week seeing how valuable he is top the team.

 

[ravidubey]

The Patriots have one of the best, if not the best offenses in the league, and we held them to 13 points in the 1st half, 3 of which were off a 57 yard FG, despite the fact that the offense went 3 and out 6 out of 7 drives and constantly gave the Patriots the ball around their own 35-40 yard line because the offense couldn't get off their own 20-25 yard line.

That in itself tells you the defense is good, there is no defense in the entire league that can hold up over the course of a 4 quarters with an offense going 3 and out as often as ours did the last few games.

Hardy made a huge impact in that Patriots game. He not only was the focus of the pass rush, he contributed attitude, stoutness, and power we haven't had for a long, long time.

That said the Pats knew they didn't have to try hard at all. Why risk a deep pass and QB hit when the other team can't score more than 6 points? They still scored 30 without trying.

We need the offense to cover for the defense because the interior is weak and safeties not instinctive or physically tough enough. Hardy can't stuff the runs to the middle or left from his LDE spot.

I would have loved to have Terrance Knighton starting in place of Hayden.

 

[Simpleton]

Hardy made a huge impact in that Patriots game. He not only was the focus of the pass rush, he contributed attitude, stoutness, and power we haven't had for a long, long time.

That said the Pats knew they didn't have to try hard at all. Why risk a deep pass and QB hit when the other team can't score more than 6 points? They still scored 30 without trying.

We need the offense to cover for the defense because the interior is weak and safeties not instinctive or physically tough enough. Hardy can't stuff the runs to the middle or left from his LDE spot.

I would have loved to have Travis Knighton starting in place of Hayden.

Terrance, but yes, I agree, I really wanted to sign him as a free agent last year.

And while I generally agree that our defense can be worn down by the run, I think you overstate how soft it is. Mincey is a very physical run defender, as is Lawrence to a degree, and of course McClain and Lee are good against the run as well. Our run D is currently ranked 10th in the league, giving up less than 100 per game despite the fact that, as you say, teams can play us conservatively knowing how bad our offense with Weeden/without Bryant was.

I would definitely like a stouter DT like Knighton, especially with how cheap he was, but it's not like our defense is getting run over left and right. We have a smallish defense that relies in large part on speed and hustle, making them more susceptible to being worn down, but any defense in the league would eventually wear down with how little our offense did against the Saints and Patriots.

 

[ravidubey]

Thanks for the correction-- Terrance Knighton.

but any defense in the league would eventually wear down with how little our offense did against the Saints and Patriots.

See I kind of disagree. If you have that tough, stout beast in the middle your defense can withstand almost anything.

The Eagles are a fine example of this. Their offense does 3-and outs and turnovers like Jordan Belfort did whores or lines of coke. But Cox and the defense head back out there and mostly still get it done.

The 2000 Ravens had a terrible offense in spite of monsters like Jamal Lewis, Jonathon Ogden, and Shannon Sharpe. But guys like Siragusa, Sam Adams, and Ray Lewis would just stuff the opposing offense and get them the ball back.

Adams and Goose were basically street pickups.

It's not like the Cowboys don't spend money on the defense. What they've done is bought into this "quick twitch" load of bullshit and have utterly ignored the 1-technique.