How many snaps for Jay Ratliff?

October, 10, 2012
10/10/12
1:04
PM CT
IRVING, Texas -- Nose tackle Jay Ratliff is practicing for the third straight time and the Cowboys continue to prepare as if he will make his 2012 debut Sunday at Baltimore.

But how much will Ratliff play?

When healthy, Ratliff rarely comes off the field, but the Cowboys feel good about backups Josh Brent and Sean Lissemore to spell him a little more than they have in the past.

“Anytime you’re bringing a player back from injury you have to be careful in how much you use them in their first game back,” coach Jason Garrett said. “You’ve heard us talk before about a progression of plays we want guys to play in preseason game one, preseason game two and it’s no different when a guy like Ratliff comes back for a regular-season game. Obviously we want him out there as much as we can (but) we’ve got to make sure he’s ready to handle that workload.”
Todd Archer joined ESPNDallas.com in November 2010. He's covered the NFL since 1997 and the Cowboys since 2003. He covered the Bengals and Dolphins before arriving in Dallas. A Massachusetts native, Archer lives in the Dallas area with his wife and two children.

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