IRVING, Texas -- When the Cowboys go into Sunday's game against the New York Giants they will do so without inside linebacker Sean Lee.

Lee is just the latest Cowboys' defensive player to miss time this year.

In Lee's case, he's lost for the season with a torn ligament in his right big toe.

The defensive unit overall has missed several players due to injury including starting nose tackle Jay Ratliff, outside linebacker Anthony Spencer, safety Gerald Sensabaugh, defensive end Kenyon Coleman and safety Barry Church.

Church, whom Ryan called a superstar, is out for the season. Backups, from cornerback Mike Jenkins to defensive end Sean Lissemore, have also missed time due to injury. Jenkins missed the season opener at the Giants.

All the injuries have forced defensive coordinator Rob Ryan to juggle his alignments.

"I tell you what it is, it’s a testament to the guys in that room that work their butts off and believe in each other," Ryan said. "They believe in the theory of next man up but they care for each other and they play their ass off for each other so that’s why we’re so fortunate. I’ve been to places where it’s not like that. When you lose a great player, the whole thing goes to crap, these guys have great character, they’re very talented and they believe in the system and they make our system better, our players do, and that’s why we’re a helluva group and that’s what we plan on doing this week. We plan on proving it."