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The Cowboys saw tight ends Jason Witten and James Hanna retire this offseason. It leaves a hole at the position even with their selection of Dalton Schultz in the fourth round.
Rico Gathers Bradley McDougald Jersey , who did not play a regular-season game in his first two seasons, acknowledges the opportunity.
He spent his rookie season on the practice squad after playing college basketball, and a concussion kept Gathers on injured reserve last season.
“The biggest thing for me this year is just making it to the regular season,” Gathers said. “I have to make sure I’m healthy and make sure I’m able to be on somebody’s 53-man roster.”
The Cowboys took a flyer on Gathers in 2016, using a sixth-round pick on him. He showed signs of development during the 2017 preseason by catching seven passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns in the first two preseason games.
But Gathers took a helmet-to-helmet hit from defensive back Kavon Frazier during an August 15 practice, and the concussion ended Gathers’ season before it began.
He was cleared from concussion protocol before Week 7, but the Cowboys elected not to use one of their short-term injured reserve designations on Gathers.
“They finally gave me the clear to start back working out normal and going back into the meetings and stuff Dalvin Tomlinson Jersey ,” Gathers said. “For the most part, I was excited after getting cleared, but the people above had bigger expectations for me rather than me coming in and practicing and getting back on the field.
“Really they didn’t tell me anything. But I could just tell by the drift of the season and the drift of the coaching staff that I probably wasn’t going to play last year anyway. I just look forward to getting back on the field this year.”
Gathers is confident he could have helped last season. He’s more confident he will help this season with Witten and Hanna gone. He is competing with Geoff Swaim, Blake Jarwin, Schultz and undrafted rookie David Wells likely for three roster spots.
Gathers has worked hard on his blocking, seeking to become an all-around tight end.
“It was agonizing [not playing last season], because I felt like I had finally got into a rhythm of what I wanted to do Kyzir White Jersey , and I think they saw that,” Gathers said. “It was tough to deal with, especially because in some of the games I felt like we needed a scoring punch and I felt like that was what I brought to the table. But playing for the Cowboys is bigger than being able to score touchdowns. You have to block and everything else.”
PHILADELPHIA (AP) More than $500 million in claims were approved as of Monday under the NFL’s concussion settlement, nearly a decade earlier than league officials estimated they would reach that amount.
Claims administrators in the settlement released an updated report on the concussion settlement information website saying about $502 million had been approved in less than two years of the settlement. The original actuarial estimates from the NFL estimated a little more than $400 million would be paid out in the first decade.
Attorneys for the retired players adjusted their estimates on the total payout of expected claims earlier this month, saying the settlement would likely reach $1.4 billion- almost a half billion more than the NFL originally estimated.
”We encourage all eligible former players to immediately sign up for a baseline assessment, and they can take comfort in knowing that compensation will be available for more than 60 years if they develop a qualifying condition,” said Christopher Seeger Tommylee Lewis Jersey , co-lead class counsel for the former NFL players. ”The fact that $500 million in claims have been approved in less than two years proves that this settlement is fulfilling its promise to former NFL players and their families.”
Almost 2,000 claims have been filed in less than two years, according to the update filed Monday. Hundreds more of the nearly 20,500 retired players signed up to be prequalified to file claims than were expected, outpacing all previous projections.
As of Monday, the claims administrator said 7,343 medical appointments to assess neurological baselines had been made and more than 6 Brandon Parker Jersey ,000 had been attended.
The settlement, which took effect January 2017, resolved thousands of lawsuits that accused the NFL of hiding what it knew about the risks of repeated concussions.
It covers retired players who develop Lou Gehrig’s disease, dementia or other neurological problems believed to be caused by concussions suffered during their pro careers, with awards as high as $5 million for the most serious cases.
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