OXNARD, Calif. (AP) - The Dallas Cowboys expected a suspension for defensive end Damontre Moore since he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence while with the Seattle Seahawks last year before joining his hometown team in the offseason, coach Jason Garrett said Saturday.
Moore, also cited in Seattle for driving with a suspended license last December, became the third Dallas defensive player who will start the season on the suspended list when he received a two-game ban Friday for violating the NFL’s personal-conduct policy.
The 24-year-old Dallas native, who played at Texas A&M, signed with the Cowboys in March.
“We understood what that situation was when we signed him,” Garrett said. “He made great strides in our evaluations by our player engagement people and so we went ahead and made that signing under our conditions knowing full well a suspension was a possibility.”
Defensive ends David Irving (four games) and Randy Gregory (likely entire season) will be suspended when the season starts. Irving violated the performance-enhancing policy, and Gregory has multiple substance-abuse violations.
Two more defensive players could face suspensions after offseason arrests: cornerback Nolan Carroll (drunken-driving charge) and linebacker Damien Wilson (aggravated assault charges).
“I made my bed and I’ve got to lie it in,” Moore said. “I just wanted to apologize to the Cowboys organization and the fans for my past even following me. I also want to show them by coming here and working hard each and every day that I’m here to … make the best of this opportunity.”
Moore was a third-round pick by the New York Giants in 2013 and played 42 games with no starts over three seasons before getting waived late in the 2015 season. He played the rest of that season in Miami before getting into four games with the Seahawks last season. He has 10 sacks in 49 games.
The Cowboys worked out Moore during training camp last year but didn’t sign him over off-field concerns. Garrett said the club signed him in the offseason “under our conditions” after talking to him about getting on a program, although Garrett wasn’t more specific.
Moore said he believes he has done everything the Cowboys have asked since joining the team.
“Only time will tell,” he said. “All I know is just go in there, study my playbook and come out here when they call my name, run the plays. If I make a mistake, go in there and watch film, learn from those mistakes and that’s what training camp is for and just keep the ball rolling.”
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