DeMarvion Overshown is an unabashed horseman. The Arp, Tex. native grew up riding, mucking stalls, cleaning tack, and feeding out hay, things he still does on a regular basis on his ranch. Taking care of his horses is a way of life he calls spiritual.
So for the linebacker to finally have the reins taken completely away exactly one year after his second ACL tear, this Cowboy is once again ready to ride. Though Overshown has been back in the lineup since Week 11, Sunday night’s date with the Minnesota Vikings will mark the final step in his latest recovery from injury.
“This will be the first game where he doesn’t have any limitations,” Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said in his Friday press conference. “And he’s ready for it.”
More than ready, according to Overshown. Champing at the bit, even.
“I feel like I’ve been ready for it. It was just a matter of doing it the safe way, letting me get back all the way to myself,” he told reporters this week.
“They’re excited about lifting the snap count. I am, too, and I’m ready to roll.”
Overshown’s return has helped breathe new life into a Cowboys defense that was ranked at the bottom of the league earlier in the season. In just four game appearances, he’s already put himself into the team’s top 20 in total tackles, with his workload gradually climbing each week.
Truthfully, the 25-year-old couldn’t have picked a tougher moment for his comeback even if he had tried. He was elevated to the active roster on Nov. 11, just in time for a brutal stretch of games that saw the Cowboys suit up four times in 18 days.
And although Overshown desperately wanted to put his heels down and start galloping right out of the gate, the team insisted that he start out at a nice trot.
“It was like, ‘Look, these next four games are going to be in 17, 18 days. So we’ve got to be smart with you, with practices, and the snap count.”
His 31 snaps against Las Vegas represented just over half of the defense’s playing time in that win. He stepped up to 37 snaps against Philadelphia, then 46 versus Kansas City. His 47 snaps in Week 14’s loss to Detroit were over three-quarters of the team’s total defensive action.
And now, after an extended mini-bye, it’s full speed ahead.
“This 10 days, actually [being] able to to get my legs back under me,” Overshown explained, “now we’re able to lift that snap count just because we [were] able to get some real rest time.”
After ACL tears in back-to-back years, Overshown knows that proper care and maintenance is everything. He wouldn’t overwork one of his horses that’s pulled up lame; the smart move is to instead bring it back a little at a time and give it the extra attention it needs once it hits the stable.
He’s applying the same patient and methodical approach with his own body, even borrowing a technique from a fellow workhorse who’s established himself as a long-running champion thoroughbred.
“I call it the LeBron recovery,” Overshown smiled. “After any physical activities, I ice my knees just to cool them down and feel better for the next day.”
The Dallas training staff may want to have a few additional bags on standby for Overshown, because this Cowboy is all the way back in the saddle.
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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: No snap count for Cowboys LB DeMarvion Overshown in Week 15: ‘I’ve been ready’
Reporting by Todd Brock, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
