Leighton Vander Esch remains out of organized team activities while rehabbing a pelvic injury. The Pro Bowl linebacker is working on the side with athletic trainers while his team practices.
“I think he’s getting better and better,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “He’s not going to do much this week. He’s working on the side, but he’s certainly making progress.”
Vander Esch, the 19th overall pick in 2018, took over at weakside linebacker when Sean Lee was injured and made 140 tackles, two interceptions and seven pass breakups.
“Like any young player, he’s got to get better at everything,” Garrett said. “As good a job as he did for us, he can be a better run defender. He can be a better pass defender. He can be a better consistent tackler. He can understand what we’re doing and understand what opposing offenses are doing. He needs to just play more snaps to get more comfortable and more confident, but he’s certainly off to a good start.”
Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie missed practice with a hamstring injury, and safety Kavon Frazier recently had arthroscopic knee surgery. Garrett said Frazier would miss “the next couple of weeks” of practice to rehab.
