Anthony Spencer has microfracture knee surgery, will miss rest of season

Microfracture surgery is a lot more difficult to come back from. Spencer’s season is over -- that much is not in question at all. He will miss the season and will hit the open market as a free agent next offseason. That’s significant given that he was playing this season on the franchise tag, meaning the Cowboys are out a bunch of money.

Spencer will be 30 years old and hoping for a big contract for the 2014 season, which seems almost impossible at this point. He’ll have a long and difficult road to recovery, and the biggest thing to watch when he comes back is whether or not he still has the burst off the line from the outside linebacker or defensive end positions.

The five-year veteran made the Pro Bowl last season as an outside linebacker in the Cowboys’ then-3-4 defense. This season, he was making the adjustment to defensive end in new defensive coordinator Monty Kiffin’s Tampa 2. He was only able to produce two tackles in his one appearance in the new defense.

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The Rams and Cowboys will battle in Week 3, with both teams hoping to get their second win of the season. The Cowboys are 1-1, coming off a loss to the Chiefs in Week 2 and look to be relatively healthy despite some players resting this week. The Rams are also looking to have most of their gang on offense and defense ready to go for the NFC conference showdown, but will miss out on right tackle Rodger Saffold, who is out with a leg injury. The Cowboys will have wide receiver Dez Bryant, despite his recent back problems, but will be without defensive end Anthony Spencer.

Cowboys Inactives

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Here are the inactives for both teams:

Cowboys:

The Cowboys will be on the road against the Chiefs at 1 p.m. ET on FOX.

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The biggest question for the Cowboys is whether or not they’ll see the return of defensive end Anthony Spencer. Nearly two months removed from knee surgery, Spencer returned to the practice field this week and is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game.

Questionable

Whether Spencer actually suits up remains to be seen. Expect the defensive end to be listed as questionable on the Cowboy’s injury report after Friday’s practice, with a game time decision coming Sunday.

Spencer signed the Cowboy’s franchise tender in the offseason, making him one of the highest-paid defensive ends in the league at $10.6 million this season. He had 11 sacks among his 95 tackles as an outside linebacker last season, but his transition to defensive end in Monte Kiffin’s 4-3 Tampa-2 defense was considered one of the keys to the Cowboys’ success this year.

Spencer had surgery on his knee July 26 and expected to be out part of the preseason, but now the Cowboys lineman might miss the entire preseason. While not ideal, Spencer says it’s certainly not something he’s worrying about provided he’s back on the field when games begin to matter.

Spencer is a major part of the Cowboys’ defense, especially being one of the veterans who is making the switch from a 3-4 to 4-3 system under new coordinator Monte Kiffin.