Justin Durant contemplated retirement before signing with Cowboys
Justin Durant considered calling it quits this off-season.
He wanted to spend more time with his family, particularly his 4-year-old daughter, but Durant still had the itch to continue his football career and signed with the Dallas Cowboys earlier this month to compete for the starting middle linebacker spot.
You just get that itch. Once I started looking at TV and seeing everybody going back to OTAs and stuff, I just figured I wasn’t done yet.
LB Justin Durant
“You just get that itch,” the 30-year-old Durant said. “Once I started looking at TV and seeing everybody going back to OTAs and stuff, I just figured I wasn’t done yet. I feel like I still have the ability to play, and I guess this organization felt like I could still play. And I’m going to see if I can still play.”
The Cowboys certainly hope Durant still has football left and reached out to him in April to gauge his interest. The organization clearly knew there were issues with Rolando McClain, the starting middle linebacker who has been hit with a 10-game suspension and has yet to report to camp.
Durant gives the team an option at middle linebacker. He worked with the second-team as the Cowboys practiced for the first time Saturday, with Anthony Hitchens working with the starters.
But Durant has shown an ability to flourish under defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli. When Durant was with the Cowboys in 2014, he was in the midst of a career year with an interception and two forced fumbles before a biceps injury ended his season after six games.
“I knew exactly what I was getting into to [signing with Dallas],” Durant said. “I didn’t want to go in any type of new situation where I have to just learn everything over again. I’ve kind of done that enough in my career. It was the right move for me.”
Added coach Jason Garrett: “We reached out to him in the spring and he was working out and he was excited about getting an opportunity. He played some of the best football throughout his career for us. I think he believes in this system, he certainly believes in our coaches and he responded well to it. I think he’s excited to be back in this environment.”
Lee’s goal
Linebacker Sean Lee has a simple goal this season — play all 16 games.
Lee has yet to do that in his six-year career. He played in 15 games in 2011, and made it through 14 a year ago in his first Pro Bowl season. Getting through a full season is a way in which Lee feels he can become more of a team leader.
“I have to step up my leadership,” Lee said. “For me, it’s finding a way to play 16 games. I haven’t done that my entire career, but I’m working to do that, working to play at a higher level. We have a great group defensively here ready to play at a high level, so I’m excited to be with those guys and hopefully take our entire defense to another level.”
Lee led the team in tackles a season ago as coaches credited him with 156 — along with 11 tackles for loss and six quarterback pressures. He is expected to stay at the weakside linebacker position, an impact spot in Marinelli’s Tampa 2 defense.
Frederick focused
Executive vice president Stephen Jones said the Cowboys would be interested in reaching a contract extension with center Travis Frederick during training camp.
Frederick, though, isn’t overly concerned about his contract situation going into his fourth full season.
“For me, this camp is really about coming out and trying to get better individually and get our group better and focus on football, not on that,” Frederick said. “I have an agent that deals with all that stuff. If they get anything done, he’ll bring it to me and we’ll get things figured out.”
Frederick said it’s important for players to be able to compartmentalize things such as contracts, and intends to do just that. But he did express some interest in staying with the Cowboys for years to come.
“Obviously, it would be fun to stick in one place and make something work,” Frederick said.
This story was originally published July 30, 2016 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Justin Durant contemplated retirement before signing with Cowboys."