Cowboys defensive tackle Amobi Okoye. (Michael Ainsworth/The Dallas Morning News)
IRVING — Amobi Okoye will not play this season after the Cowboys chose not to activate him from the reserve/non-football illness list, sources said.
The 6-2, 300-pound defensive tackle began practicing with the club Oct. 23 and was attempting to work back into football shape following a lengthy battle with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis in 2013.
“I am definitely ready to go and play, but it’s all left to what they think upstairs,” said Okoye, who was referring to the team’s executives.
The Cowboys had 21 days before Thursday’s deadline to evaluate Okoye’s condition and determine whether they wanted to add him to the 53-man roster, cut him or keep him on the non-football illness list the remainder of the season.
They chose the last option.
Okoye, who lost 78 pounds and experienced a 145-day memory gap during his lengthy battle with the autoimmune disease, has regained the weight and looks the part of a massive defensive tackle.
He was cleared in August to do contract drills, but the Cowboys wanted to proceed cautiously after signing him to a two-year contract in May.
“For someone who has gone through what I’ve gone through, you just soak in every minute and moment that you have,” Okoye said. “I feel like when I get a chance to do what I do, I do it to my best.”
But now Okoye will have to wait until 2015 for his shot to play in his first NFL game since 2012.