Dallas Cowboys Rookie LB Bruce Carter’s Knee is Making Progress

Bruce Carter missed his critical senior season when he was widely regarded as one of the top linebacker prospects in the entire country last year with an ACL injury in late November. Surgery in December sent his draft stock spiraling downward, but the Dallas Cowboys made sure he didn’t fall too far, because he simply has too much talent.

Dallas selected the former North Carolina standout with the 40th overall pick in the draft, and almost seven months later, Carter says his knee is getting close to being ready to go, according to the Dallas Morning News.

“The knee’s doing well,” Carter recently told the Galloway and Company radio show on KESN-FM 103.3. “I’d probably say to myself that I’m about 85 percent. I will say that I am full speed, I’ve been cutting, it’s just kind of more like a mental thing more than it is physical. Just trying to get my feeling back and I feel pretty good about it. I’m ready to go.

“As soon as I get into Dallas I’m sure they’ll have some things for me to do and we can just work this whole thing out. I’m excited to get down there and show everybody what I can do.”

Carter is very excited about the role he is going to play in Rob Ryan’s defensive alignment in Dallas, and he said that if there was a game next week, he’d be a “game-time decision” in regards to his knee. He was also asked about coach Ryan and his role in the Dallas defense:

“He’s just going to use me in different ways. Sometimes I might rush or cover, playing in the box as opposed to having to play in space. … Just being in my natural position, I feel like I’m just ready to go.”

Carter is a freak athletically and could really wind up being a big steal for the Cowboys, who really needed this type of player in the middle of their defense.