Nick Eatman DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
IRVING, Texas The Cowboys had been optimistic about Jay Ratliffs chances of returning to the field for the season opener against the Giants.
Now, the earliest they will see the defensive tackle on the field will be Oct. 20 against the Eagles.
Ratliff was placed on Reserve/PUP on Tuesday in an effort to trim the roster down to 75 players. The Cowboys also put Tyrone Crawford (torn Achilles) and Ryan Cook (back) on injured reserve, along with releasing nine players.
Ratliff is dealing with both a hamstring and groin injury, a possible re-aggravation from his sports hernia surgery he underwent last December.
The defensive tackle missed all of training camp nursing what was believed to be only the hamstring injury he sustained on July 20 at the conditioning test in Oxnard, Calif. He stayed with the team for the remainder of camp when other injured players were sent back to Dallas early for rehab.
Cowboys VP Stephen Jones, the teams director of player personnel was asked Tuesday if he thought Ratliff would even play at all in 2013.
I feel confident that he will. I believe in Jay. I think hes a competitor, Jones said. Theres some things that can be frustrating when you have injuries. Jay has a real injury. Those things happen. Im convinced that weve got a (rehab) program now -- hes had a few setbacks -- that hopefully will put him on the road where he can play for us at some point this season.
The four-time Pro Bowler missed 10 games last year the final six games with the groin injury and the first four because of a high ankle sprain. He also missed most of camp with a nagging foot injury.
The last 12 months have also included a heated exchange with Jerry Jones in the locker room last December and then a DWI arrest in January. His hearing was recently pushed back to February 2014.
