IRVING, Texas – Outside linebacker Anthony Spencer earned the hard-hat award as the Cowboys’ player of the game for his work Sunday at Carolina, but more importantly he reported no trouble with a strained pectoral muscle that kept him out of two games.

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“I’m on the field, I’m playing,” Spencer said. “I’m good to go.”

Spencer wore a harness that prevented his arm from stretching backward and protected the muscle. He was credited with six tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry against the Panthers. He missed a second sack of Cam Newton, in part because of the injury when Newton slapped his arm away running through the tackle.

The Cowboy are 3-1 with Spencer in the lineup and there is a growing appreciation outside the team for what he means to the defense.

“He’s just a good football player,” coach Jason Garrett said. “He just plays well. He defends the run well. He affects the quarterback, made the big sack at the end of the game. Coach (Nick) Saban used to say,‘The guy’s hard to block.’ And that’s Line 1 for a defensive player. He’s hard to block. It’s hard to block him in the run game. He shows up, disrupts things. He made a lot of plays and allowed for other guys to make some plays.”