News: ST: Hatcher looking forward to DL reinforcements as Cowboys plan to bring back Jerome Long

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The Cowboys will bring back Jerome Long for defensive line help this week, and veteran Jason Hatcher is looking forward to it.

The Cowboys can use reinforcements with another injury this week, a shoulder separation for Ben Bass that will keep him out two to four weeks.

“Yeah, you really don’t think about getting tired, for the most part. You’re just trying to get to the football,” Hatcher said. “It’s going to be a very tough for me, but I’m built for it. I’m in the best shape of my life. I’ve just got to go out there and take it one snap at a time. When I get tired, I trust the guys who are coming in that they’re going to do the job just like I left.”

Hatcher said Long was a solid contributor in training camp, and that Landon Cohen, who made the team, will also help.

“He understands the scheme better than anybody,” Hatcher said of Long. “He’s just one of those guys who got caught up in the numbers game. I thought he did a great job. … He can come in and spare me a lot. And you’ve got Cohen. He can play 3-technique and nose tackle. So we’re really not worried about the game at all.”

Long was a seventh-round pick of Kansas City in 2012 who spent the year with the Chiefs on the practice squad, was signed by Jacksonville at the end of the season and released in April. The Cowboys signed him in June and brought him to training camp.

Hatcher said defensive line depth matters in the NFL these days.

“It’s called red ball. They just attack you,” Hatcher said of today’s NFL offenses after he watched the Thursday night game between Denver and Baltimore. “If they know you’re a good defense and you can really get to the quarterback, they try to wear you down early in the game so you won’t have nothing left in the fourth quarter. So we’ve got to do a good job of just rotating guys, and we’ll be OK.”

-- Carlos Mendez

Twitter @calexmendez

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