National Football League

Cowboys rookie LB Lee eager to make his pro debut

Published Aug. 19, 2010 4:15 p.m. ET

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Sean Lee is a training camp rarity. He loves when the Dallas Cowboys practice twice in one day.

Lee is a rookie linebacker coaches have been raving about since they felt they stole him in the second round of the draft. They immediately plugged him in as the backup to Keith Brooking and described him as a Brooking clone - intense, hard-hitting, always around the ball, a motor that never quits.

Since Brooking turns 35 this season, there's obviously a succession plan in place. And since Brooking is coming off knee surgery, the Cowboys already are tapping into it. Whenever they have two-a-days, Brooking gets a session off and Lee joins the first team, playing between Bradie James and DeMarcus Ware.

No wonder those single practice days are a letdown.

Better still for Lee: After missing the first two preseason games with an injury, he'll make his NFL debut against the San Diego Chargers.

''I felt like a pansy on the sideline,'' Lee said. ''I wanted to be out there helping the team and this week I get a chance to do it.''

Is he ready?

''I'm sure there will be a little bit of a learning curve,'' he said. ''If you watch me, one play's good and the next play's not so good. So I'm trying to build that consistency.''

Between the ''pansy'' line and acknowledging his inconsistency, Lee's defining characteristic is easy to detect. He demands perfection from himself and berates himself for anything less.

''He talks to himself like all the time,'' Brooking said, laughing. ''It's 'beep-beep-beep-beep-beep.' It goes on for like, 30 seconds. You're like, 'Good lord!'''

Brooking thought it was such a hoot that he wanted to make sure special teams coach Joe DeCamillis saw it. He'd noticed all right. Having been an assistant coach on the Atlanta Falcons when Brooking was a rookie, DeCamillis no doubt was smirking when he told Brooking, ''Yeah, it reminds me of someone 12 years ago.''

Considering that Brooking played in the Super Bowl as a rookie that season, and has since been to five Pro Bowls, the Cowboys would gladly take that kind of career from Lee.

A product of Penn State's linebacker factory, Lee was ranked in the teens on the Cowboys' draft board but was still available at No. 55 because he was considered a health risk. He missed the 2008 season after tearing a ligament in his right knee and missed three games last season because he sprained his left knee.

A thigh problem kept him out of the first two preseason games. Team owner Jerry Jones said Lee probably could've played in the last game, but it was too risky knowing how untamed Lee would be if he got on the field.

''Every play is important to him,'' said Wade Phillips, the Cowboys' head coach and defensive coordinator. ''No, not every play - every drill, everything he does, it's important to him to do well. He has a great mentality and a world of ability. I think he's doing well. He's missing a few things here and there just because he hasn't been through it enough. But he also makes outstanding plays that other guys wouldn't make.''

Phillips added he sometimes calls Lee ''Brooking'' because of the similar temperament.

Brooking said his fire comes from trying to be like his idol, Dick Butkus, who took the approach that you never want your last play to be a stinker - and you never know which is going to be your last play, so go all-out, all the time.

Lee rarely watched Brooking while he was growing up (''I didn't get a chance,'' he said. ''Living up north, they didn't show Falcons games as much'') and he isn't a Butkus connoisseur.

He's just wired this way.

''I always try to be my biggest critic because that's how you get better,'' Lee said. ''When I'm out at practice, I'm full go. I try to act like Bradie and Brook, who try to be perfect every play because when it comes to game time, you'll play like that. I really believe that if you practice 100 percent and perfect you'll play that way.''

Brooking sees Lee making the mistakes he made as a rookie, like overpursuing. Their position requires a ''slow-to-fast'' approach, waiting to see where a play is going, then getting there.

''That comes with repetition, experience, getting out there and playing games,'' Brooking said. ''Football is really high on his priority list. He really studies the game. It means a great deal for him to come out here and be successful. With his talent and his ability, that's a very good combination.''

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