Cowboys LB Leighton Vander Esch is ‘on a mission.’ He’ll need to stay healthy to accomplish it. - The Dallas Morning News

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Leighton Vander Esch ignored the pain.

On Sept. 13, the Cowboys linebacker experienced collarbone discomfort early during the first drive of the season’s first game. Nah, he thought. Couldn’t be. He kept going. He finished the series and played the next one.

Finally, he approached the team’s medical staff.

“It just felt weird,” Vander Esch said. “I had never broken a bone in my freakin’ body in my life. …I went to the sideline, and I literally told them, ‘I think my collarbone’s broke.’”

A neck injury forced Vander Esch to miss seven games in 2019. He underwent surgery, hit the reset button and prepared for a rebound year. In 2020, he missed four games to a fractured collarbone and the final two to a high ankle sprain. He is now hitting the reset button again.

“I’m on a mission,” Vander Esch said. “And I think all the guys should be, too.”

After a two-week break, the 2018 first-round pick plans to return to The Star this month and begin regular training at the facility. These workouts will continue into February, March and the presumed April start of the Cowboys’ voluntary spring program.

He hopes his efforts can lead to more success in 2021.

“It’s not ideal,” Vander Esch said of recent injuries. “It’s never ideal to get hurt. Bad luck. And [I] know that’s part of God’s plan. I know that it helps me grow as a man, and you’ve got to put things in perspective and just learn not to take things for granted. I say that time after time after time.

“Injuries are a part of the game of football. Some happen to more people than others. It is what it is. People can say what they want to say, but it’s the game of football, and the ones that can be resilient and they can bounce back from that and just keep continuing to grind — day after day, no matter what happens — good things are going to happen eventually.”

A healthy 2021 season would allow Vander Esch to pick up where he left off.

He switched from “Will” to “Mike” linebacker last year, as the Cowboys transitioned to a more elaborate defensive scheme under coordinator Mike Nolan. The defense’s installation was not fully baked, however, as a shortened offseason amid COVID-19 limited practice reps.

Getting comfortable at a new position took time.

“I’m going to be completely honest: It’s quite a bit different,” Vander Esch said. “The technique does carry over, but the sense of the game is quite a bit different because obviously you’ve got to play both ways. You’re never really out of the box, so that took a little bit of getting used to. But I think the transition went smooth.

“Honestly, I was just starting to get my strides a couple games before I got hurt, when I got rolled up on with my ankle. … My fits were getting better and better every single game from when I came back from my collarbone.”

Vander Esch hopes to continue those strides.

His purpose for training at The Star this offseason, he said, goes beyond the weight room. He seeks to advance his mental understanding of the game and Cowboys’ defense, studying film and discussing various concepts with the coaching staff.

It remains to be seen who his coordinator or linebackers coach will be. Nolan is not expected to remain at coordinator, a decision that should be finalized in the coming days. If coach Mike McCarthy promotes from within, senior defensive assistant George Edwards is an obvious candidate.

Vander Esch, 24, looks to learn from whoever occupies those roles.

With better health, he can apply his growth in the fall.

“I know I’m already looking forward to this coming season,” Vander Esch said, “and I’m just looking forward to training and getting better individually. And I think a lot of guys are in the same position. That’s what we need. We need everybody focused, and we need everybody working as hard as they possibly can.

“Who knows what this offseason is going to look like moving forward being like last year, but we’ve got to get things right. I’m just looking forward to keep improving and keep working my hardest. We’ve got to have everybody pulling along.”

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