Cowboys fear LB Lee out for season
Dallas Cowboys middle linebacker Sean Lee could miss the rest of the 2013 season with a sprained ligament in his neck.
Lee was injured at Chicago in the Cowboys' loss on Dec. 9 and practiced two days in preparation for Week 15 against the Green Bay Packers. But Friday he was ruled out with nagging discomfort.
Lee is expected to be evaluated further this week but surgery was not considered necessary.
Owner Jerry Jones said on his weekly radio show Tuesday that Lee might miss the rest of the season. Backups Bruce Carter (hamstring) and Justin Durant (hamstring) are also on the mend.
"I'm very concerned because he is our quarterback, and it's glaring when he's not out there, and has been glaring the last two ballgames," Jones told KRLD-FM. "He's the guy that not only is our leader out there in execution, but he's also the guy that is the (Tony) Romo over there, and when you don't have him, you brought in Durant.
"Well, we've had Durant, really, just very little time since we haven't had Lee out there. It's hard to get three-deep with your quarterback over there on defense. Now, every team -- the team we just played lost their quarterback. They didn't have (Aaron) Rodgers. Every team loses key players."
Jones also had the back of his quarterback.
Romo has taken some heat after throwing two fourth-quarter interceptions in Sunday's 37-36 loss to the Packers, who rallied from a 23-point halftime deficit.
Jones doesn't feel Romo has too much latitude regarding the offense.
"No I don't," Jones said on his radio show. "No, not at all."
Romo changed a run play to a pass before throwing an interception with 2:46 remaining in the game and was indirectly criticized by coach Jason Garrett for changing the play.
"When it basically has to unfold for him out there, the defense gets out of their structure, we get out of our structure on pass routes," Jones said. "All of a sudden, you're into a little more sandlot-type football. In doing so, there's more risk that's involved. Make no mistake about it: With where we are with our personnel, we're going to have to take risks.
"I was for the aggressiveness we showed ... and it can apply to many parts of the game. But in this particular case, aggressiveness was throwing the ball on our end of the field -- throwing the ball in there close.
"Aggressiveness with Romo can mean not throw the ball but buy more time, which increases the chances of having a bad play."
