By Rainer Sabin / Reporter
rsabin@dallasnews.com | Bio
Oct. 25, 2011
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Bruce Carter has persevered through an extensive rehabilitation, waiting for the opportunity to play in his first NFL game. Now the countdown to his professional debut has begun. The Cowboys rookie linebacker said he expects to play Sunday against Philadelphia.
"I'm very excited," said Carter, who actually sounded rather unenthusiastic.
Carter, who joined his rookie teammates Tuesday and played bingo with seniors at The Brady Center of Catholic Charities of Dallas, practiced for the first time last week after recuperating from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee that he suffered in his senior season at North Carolina.
He said he could have played against St. Louis on Sunday but that the Cowboys didn't want to rush him back to action.
"We'll continue to evaluate Bruce's situation," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Monday. "He looked good last week and it was fun to see him move around as a football player as opposed to a guy running on the side of a football field. It looks like he's comfortable and relatively confident in his knee. We'll watch him again and just see how he does."
But Carter anticipates he will be active against Philadelphia and that means the Cowboys will have to cut a player from the 53-man roster to make room for him. They will make the corresponding move as they carve out a role for Carter. When asked by a reporter if he will contribute on special teams and appear in defensive sub packages, Carter responded, "Exactly what [he] just said."
Before practicing last week, Carter was curious to see if he had returned to full strength. The answer he was looking for soon arrived.
"I wanted to make sure I still had it," Carter said.
"Which I did."
rsabin@dallasnews.com | Bio
Oct. 25, 2011
Link
Bruce Carter has persevered through an extensive rehabilitation, waiting for the opportunity to play in his first NFL game. Now the countdown to his professional debut has begun. The Cowboys rookie linebacker said he expects to play Sunday against Philadelphia.
"I'm very excited," said Carter, who actually sounded rather unenthusiastic.
Carter, who joined his rookie teammates Tuesday and played bingo with seniors at The Brady Center of Catholic Charities of Dallas, practiced for the first time last week after recuperating from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee that he suffered in his senior season at North Carolina.
He said he could have played against St. Louis on Sunday but that the Cowboys didn't want to rush him back to action.
"We'll continue to evaluate Bruce's situation," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Monday. "He looked good last week and it was fun to see him move around as a football player as opposed to a guy running on the side of a football field. It looks like he's comfortable and relatively confident in his knee. We'll watch him again and just see how he does."
But Carter anticipates he will be active against Philadelphia and that means the Cowboys will have to cut a player from the 53-man roster to make room for him. They will make the corresponding move as they carve out a role for Carter. When asked by a reporter if he will contribute on special teams and appear in defensive sub packages, Carter responded, "Exactly what [he] just said."
Before practicing last week, Carter was curious to see if he had returned to full strength. The answer he was looking for soon arrived.
"I wanted to make sure I still had it," Carter said.
"Which I did."
