Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Dallas Cowboys guard Ronald Leary is active for tonight's Week 4 matchup against the New Orleans Saints, confirmed David Helman of Cowboys.com.

He suffered a strained groin in his team's Week 1 win over the New York Giants and was out of action the last two games.

Leary started 15 games for Dallas in 2014 and all 16 in 2013 and is a significant part of the continuity up front that helped arguably the league’s best line dominate opponents on the way to last season’s NFC East crown.

DeMarco Murray led the league with 1,845 rushing yards largely because of that talent up front, including Leary. Football Outsiders ranked the Cowboys line No. 1 in the league in adjusted line yards last year, which is a stat that “takes all running back carries and assigns responsibility to the offensive line.”

With Brandon Weeden now at the helm for the Cowboys at quarterback, strong protection from Leary and the rest of the offensive line will be essential for Dallas to stay in the hunt in the NFC East.