Cowboys notes: Greg Hardy spreads some goodwill with coat drive

Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy took a step toward gaining goodwill within the community before Saturday night’s game, volunteering at a winter coat drive in south Dallas.

Hardy spoke briefly at the event, sponsored by C&B Sports Marketing, saying he appreciated the second chance the Cowboys have given him.

The coats were given to children associated with Faith Works Foster Care of DeSoto.

“I’m Greg Hardy, it’s a pleasure to be here,” Hardy told the crowd at the University of North Texas at Dallas. “I’m really grateful to have this opportunity. ... To have understanding coaches, understanding organization, understanding Texas ... Dallas, Texas behind me is a wonderful thing.

“You don’t always get second chances, so I’m grateful and honored that I can come here today and give back to all these people — all these great people.

“This is amazing. This is what I love — to give back. It’s what I appreciate about the game.”

The Cowboys brought in the controversial defensive end in March, and Hardy has generated more negative headlines than positive ones.

On top of his well-documented May 2014 domestic violence incident that led to a four-game suspension to start this season, Hardy has gotten into a verbal spat with a teammate, made an ill-advised social media post during the draft making light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and made questionable comments about Tom Brady’s wife.

But the Cowboys have stuck by Hardy through it all, and have worked with him in building a better image. The message apparently is getting through, evident by his work Saturday.

He asked permission from the Cowboys to skip the morning walk-through to be at the winter coat drive. He later expanded on what it meant for him to be part of the event, his first charity function since joining the Cowboys.

“It’s big time for me because you don’t get a lot of chances to give back,” Hardy said. “Coming from where I come from, I didn’t always have coats, so I know what the cold feels like having to play outside.”

Hardy said he has been blessed as a football player to be able to give back and is appreciative for this second chance, even though there are those that don’t want him to be playing or giving back.

“That is part of the blessing,” Hardy said. “I have been blessed a lot. Being able to come back and do this, this is some of the stuff I missed when stuff like that happens to me. People don’t want you to do good stuff in my situation, and that sucks. Not only do I suffer, but the kids suffer. It sucks.”

While the Cowboys’ season hasn’t gone as he would have liked — the team is 4-10 — Hardy said he is happy to be playing football again.

“I’m happy. I’m happy to be back — good or bad,” Hardy said. “That’s the way the game goes.”

Escobar done

Tight end Gavin Escobar is out for the season after tearing his right Achilles in the fourth quarter Saturday. Escobar confirmed the news after the game in the locker room as he exited on crutches.

It’s another setback for Escobar, who hasn’t played as well as most would have expected after being a second-round pick in 2013. He finished this season with only eight catches for 64 yards and one touchdown, the least productive season of his three-year career.

Running wild

The Jets entered the game with the top-ranked run defense in the league, but that didn’t stop the Cowboys from running all over them.

The offensive line created plenty of holes for Darren McFadden and the rest of the running game as the Cowboys had a successful night on the ground.

In fact, the Jets had allowed just 110 yards rushing total the past three weeks against Tennessee (24), the New York Giants (74) and Miami (12).

But the Cowboys easily surpassed that total by the middle of the third quarter on a 33-yard run by McFadden. The team finished with 133 yards on 21 carries, including 100 yards on 16 carries by McFadden.

The most rushing yards against the Jets this season had been 148 by the Buffalo Bills last month.

McFadden joins Buffalo’s LeSean McCoy, Oakland’s Latavius Murray and Philadelphia’s Ryan Mathews as the only 100-yard rushers against the Jets this season.

Briefly

▪ Right guard Zack Martin was called for holding in the fourth quarter, the third time he’s been flagged for that this season. Martin had no holding penalties against him as a rookie.

▪ The roof, but not the end zone doors, were open at AT&T Stadium. The Cowboys dropped to 2-3 under those conditions.

▪ Long snapper L.P. Ladouceur bounced a snap to punter Chris Jones in the first half. That’s believed to be the first errant snap in Ladouceur’s career.

▪ Cornerback Morris Claiborne was among the inactive players Saturday. Claiborne has been dealing with a hamstring injury, and was doubtful to play against the Jets. Rookie Byron Jones started in Claiborne’s spot.

Staff writer Clarence E. Hill Jr. contributed to this report.

This story was originally published December 19, 2015 at 11:52 PM with the headline "Cowboys notes: Greg Hardy spreads some goodwill with coat drive."