IRVING, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Ware will undergo surgery on his right elbow on Feb. 18, but he anticipates being able to take part in most of the offseason program.

DeMarcus Ware will undergo surgery on his right elbow on Feb. 18, but he anticipates being able to take part in most of the offseason program. Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports

Ware has played the last two years with the problem and hoped rest would have taken care of the issue, but he said it flared up early in training camp and bothered him throughout the 2013 season.

"It's been killing me," Ware said. "It's hurt really bad and that's why I would wear an elbow pad to stop from getting it hit but that didn't do much. It would get irritated even when it was barely touched."

Ware said the surgery will help protect a nerve that was exposed when he would bend his arm, "so when I would get hit, it would lose its power," he said.

Ware, who had surgery last year on his right shoulder, had a career-low six sacks in 2013 and missed the first three games of his career with a quadriceps strain. Ware started the season with four sacks in the first three games but was slowed by the quadriceps strain, a stinger and a back injury, in addition to his elbow soreness.

"Rest helped it," Ware said. "I'm getting my work in. I'm pushing up 315, 405 (pounds) and I'm doing everything, running. My body feels great. Straight up, it feels really, really good. My quad, I can do all of that. I can do everything. Nothing is inhibiting me. If I had to go into the season now, I feel better than I did going into the season with the shoulder (surgery) ... Now I feel like once we get the elbow cleaned up and fix the nerve deal, it's, 'Let's roll.' "