Leighton Vander Esch to participate in everything, Dallas Cowboys report
Vice President Stephen Jones confirmed the positive reports about Dallas Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch’s surgery to repair a nerve issue in his neck.
Everything went well last week and the Cowboys believe the 2018 first-round pick will be ready to go for the start of the off-season program on April 6.
“It went well,” Jones said to reporters at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., Tuesday. “I feel really good about it. I feel really good about him making a full recovery and being ready to participate in everything.”
Vander Esch missed the final seven games of the 2019 season after a pinched nerve aggravated his cervical spinal stenosis, a condition he has had since birth involving the narrowing of the spinal canal. That’s the same injury that forced the Cowboys’ Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin to retire in 2000.
Vander Esch initially suffered the injury in Dallas’ 37-10 against the Philadelphia Eagles when he got crunched on a tackle, forcing his head to go forward and hit his sternum. He was already wearing a collar to keep his head from going backwards.
Following the team’s bye week in Week 8, Vander Esch missed the next game against the New York Giants but returned for two more before the condition flared up again during practice leading up to the New England Patriots game in Week 12.
Specialists advised him to have surgery and repair the nerve damage. The Cowboys have fit him with special equipment that will prevent his head from going backward or forward.
They believe he will not only be ready for the start of the off-season program but can resume a promising, and hopefully lengthy, career that started with him leading the team in tackles and making the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2018.
Vander Esch recorded 72 tackles in 2019 and was sorely missed by a Cowboys defense that struggled to stop the run and make big plays when needed.
