Looming suspensions dogging Dallas D for 2nd straight year

who signed with Dallas in March following three seasons with the Eagles, participated in practice but didn’t appear in the locker room when it was open to reporters two days after his arrest in Dallas.

Irving was a locker room noshow for reporters for the second straight week since news of a failed drug test, which the third-year player is appealing. Irving showed promise last year for a pass rush lacking punch in recent seasons.

“We don’t get frustrated, we just try to address the issue,” coach Jason Garrett said. “We addressed the issue here like we have with other situations that have come up with our team. You address them head on, you do your best to solve the issue and learn from it and move forward.”

Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence was one of the three suspended starters going into last season. He violated the substance-abuse policy along with Gregory and linebacker Rolando McClain, who eventually was banned indefinitely for substance-abuse violations.

Lawrence, who missed the first four games, also had to deal with back issues that limited him to one sack in nine games after leading the Cowboys with eight sacks in 2015.

“I can’t sit here and talk down on somebody else when I had the same problem,” Lawrence said. “I really just try to hone in and try to help them get through it. Everybody goes through a rough patch in life. I’m not the person to sit here and try to talk down on them.”

Garrett said Carroll’s arrest “hits close to home,” a vague reference to Josh Brent’s intoxication manslaughter conviction over the 2012 car crash that killed teammate Jerry Brown during the season.

Former Dallas defensive lineman Jay Ratliff pleaded guilty to drunken driving over a crash that happened less than two months after Brown’s death. Ratliff was at odds with the Cowboys over the handling of a sports hernia at the time and didn’t play for them again, eventually ending up in Chicago after his release.

The Cowboys are standing by Carroll, who signed a $10 million, three-year contract with a $3 million signing bonus.

“Nolan has taken responsibility for it,” Garrett said. “He’s been accountable to it not only with me and the coaching staff but with the team. We all can learn from the situation and move forward.”

Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli has been without several top players because of injuries or suspensions while the defense struggled to make game-changing plays the past three seasons. But he’s never spent much time dwelling on the absences.

“I think the message has been sent when they’re not playing,” Marinelli said. “So they miss a lot of football practice, which really affects your career.”

The effect on the Dallas defense this year remains to be seen, again.