The Dallas Cowboys, desperate for an improved pass rush, need defensive end Charles Tapper to be a difference-maker this season.
Tapper, a fourth-round pick in 2016, plans to do his part, even though he missed all of last season with pars defect, a stress fracture in the lumbar part of the spine. Tapper, who unknowingly has had the condition since birth, woke up one morning early in training camp and couldn’t move. Surgery fixed the issue and he was placed on injured reserve.
The Cowboys thought about bringing Tapper back in December, but determined he had missed so much practice time that it didn’t make sense.