Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence has been an absolute beast since the start of the 2017 season. In the 21 games he’s played during that time, he’s racked up 20 sacks, which is a truly impressive total.
However, Lawrence’s performances should be considered even more impressive after he revealed that he’s actually been playing with a torn labrum in his shoulder, an injury which he painfully aggravated in Week 5.
“This is the first time it popped out on me last week,” Lawrence said, via Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News. “I was about to cry on the sidelines if y'all didn't notice. It was hurting bad. It feels better now.
“It's been torn two years ago and you never knew it, right? I'll work through it like any other injury.”
Lawrence adds that he’d consider potential surgery during the offseason to finally have the injury fixed.
After failing to secure a long-term deal in the offseason, Lawrence is playing the 2018 season under the franchise tag, which pays a base salary of $17.1 million. He remains confident that his shoulder issue is not significant enough to prevent him from getting paid next year as long as he continues to play at a high level.
“I do want my contract taken care of but I don't feel like this is a major injury that's going to hold me back,” Lawrence said. “Really, I keep putting up my numbers, and they ain't got no choice but to make moves. We're just going to let that [expletive] play out.”
Lawrence has a history of major injuries. He’s already undergone two back surgeries which cost him large chunks of the 2014 and 2016 seasons. Hopefully for him, this latest injury issue will not factor too significantly into his next contract as he believes.
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