The Cowboys are going to keep nose tackle Jay Ratliff on the active roster to give him a chance to come back in time for postseason, if the Cowboys get there.
“We’re going to give him every opportunity to stay on the 53 and be part of our football team,” coach Jason Garrett said Friday morning at his press briefing at Valley Ranch. “He’s an outstanding player. He’s dealt with a lot of injuries this year. But when he played, he played very well.”
Ratliff underwent surgery Thursday to repair a sports hernia. The Cowboys expect a recovery in three to six weeks.
“He was just having a hard time functioning,” Garrett said. “He went out to the practice field on a couple of different occasions, trying to do something, and he just really couldn’t do it. We got the opinion from the doctor up in Philadelphia. We felt like that was the best thing to do for him. Hopefully that will get him right and get him back on the road to recovery.”
Ratliff had not played since the Cleveland game on Nov. 18, nearly four weeks ago. Asked if the team regrets not turning to surgery earlier, Garrett said, “I think what you want to do in all situations is to exhaust every opportunity before surgery, with anybody, in any circumstance. You don’t want to prematurely do surgery. You want to make sure he has a chance to heal properly with his normal rehab. And we felt like we exhausted all those opportunities, and we felt like this was the best thing to do at this time.”
Ratliff has played in six games, making 25 tackles, one for loss, with 10 quarterback pressures.
-- Carlos Mendez
Twitter @calexmendez
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