Exclusive: Lee Home Alone; His Cowboys Plans (Now At Weakside?)

November 6, 2014 5:27 AM

Dallas Cowboys LB Sean Lee talks with 105.3 The Fan at Cowboys Training Camp in Oxnard, CA (Photo: Ted Nichols-Payne, CBSDFW.COM)

Mike Fisher

Mike Fisher is an award-winning newspaper journalist, the author of...

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By Mike Fisher | @fishsports

LONDON (105.3 THE FAN) — Sean Lee had plans.

Not just plans for the Dallas Cowboys 2014 campaign — which he figured would be a breakout season for him as a Pro Bowl-caliber middle linebacker — but more specifically, plans for the team’s ongoing visit to London, where the Cowboys play the Jaguars on Sunday at Wembley Stadium.

“Oh, it was all mapped out,’’ Lee tells me in an exclusive interview. “One of my good friends is Paul Posluszny of the Jaguars. So we were going to go at it in the game, of course, but at some point we were also going to find some London pub and hang out a little bit.’’

You know what happened to Lee: He is spending the year in rehabilitation from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee sustained last spring at OTAs.

So, Sean, should I say ‘ello to “Poz’’ — Lee’s fellow Penn State stud and the Jaguars’ starting middle linebacker and a defensive leader — while I’m over here?

“Nope,’’ Lee responds. “He ’s got a torn pectoral muscle and is on IR. So he’s out for the year, too. The plans didn’t go as planned!’’

Lee has openly acknowledged his own struggle to stay healthy at the NFL level, and even his contract reflects that. He has yet to play in a full 16-game season, having missed games with hamstring, wrist, neck and knee injuries before this season, so his six-year extension worth $42 million and including a $10-million signing bonus has a big chunk of it attached to playing time.

“I know the question is, ‘Can I stay healthy?’ Lee says. “I control what I can control. I’m going to do what I can do.’’

But wait; isn’t the rehab far-enough along that he could’ve traveled with the team to London?

“Yes, but it would’ve turned into nothing but a vacation for me, and I don’t need a vacation,’’ Lee says. “I need to stay in the weight room. I need to be here working.’’

Lee is maintaining his weight at about 235, has rehab equipment in his home, and is at Valley Ranch every day contributing in meeting rooms before spending a great deal of time in the weight room. He’s doing all this while also being aware of Dallas’ plan to shift him from middle linebacker to weakside as a way to accommodate the hoped-for retention of Rolando McClain, a Cowboys signing in the wake of Lee’s injury that has worked out brilliantly for Dallas.

“We haven’t talked about that officially, but I’m aware of it, and it sounds great,’’ Lee tells me. “You know, whatever needs to be done to help us win, I’ll do. Weakside linebacker is an important spot in the sense that all 11 positions on defense are important. I just want to be a part of it and will feel blessed to be a part of it.’’

See? Things change. But Sean Lee has plans. Again.

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