Cowboys LB Justin Durant ready to fill void left by Anthony Hitchens

Linebacker Justin Durant is ready for whatever role the Dallas Cowboys give him.

Durant and Jaylon Smith are expected to fill in the bulk of the snaps for Anthony Hitchens, who is sidelined at least eight weeks with a tibial plateau fracture.

“Whatever they need,” Durant said. “I’ve been working this whole time to get prepared to play and I’m ready to play whenever they call me.”

Durant, 31, dealt with an elbow injury late last season, but says he is 100 percent. He worked his way back into team drills last week in practice.

Durant is not expected to play in Thursday’s preseason finale against the Houston Texans, but is going into his 11th season. In other words, he has enough experience to play without any preseason snaps.

“I’ll be ready,” Durant said.

Durant was credited with 54 tackles, one sack, six quarterback pressures and four passes defensed in 13 games with the Cowboys last season. He has spent three of the past four seasons with the Cowboys, playing the 2015 season with Atlanta.

Durant has said he considered retirement before the 2016 season, but had no such thoughts going into this year. The Cowboys have been pleased with his progress thus far.

“I think he has done a real good job,” coach Jason Garrett said. “Obviously he was dealing with an injury throughout the offseason. He wasn’t with us to lay that foundation. So our approach with him here in training camp has been to get him acclimated physically and mentally. I think he has done a really good job of that.

“He is a professional. He goes about it the right way. He has been a good player for us in the past. When he has been healthy he has made an impact on the defense. We are trying to get him to that point.”

This story was originally published August 28, 2017 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Cowboys LB Justin Durant ready to fill void left by Anthony Hitchens."