By Mike Fisher | @fishsports

DALLAS (105.3 THE FAN) — Middle linebacker Rolando McClain, fighting through a groin injury that has kept him from practice all week, returned to the Valley Ranch field on Friday, as expected…presumably with his “gun out of its holster.”

That’s Jerry Jones vernacular for the leadership McClain is bringing to the 4-1 Cowboys, who play Sunday in Seattle against the defending-champ Seahawks.

“(McClain) is going to play,” Jones told 105.3 The Fan’s G-Bag Nation. “We need him, obviously. He’s a leader. I know last week at practice … he undressed one of our young receivers out there and just kind of stuck his gun back in his holster or he blew the smoke off the end, stuck his gun back in the holster. Just walked on back up to the line of scrimmage, ‘Let’s go!’ Everybody’s eyes got big.

“He said, ‘Now, bring Houston on! Let’s go!'”

Dallas beat Houston in OT last Sunday and understands its challenge against a loaded Seahawks team, but the Cowboys have been convinced by McClain — the previously troubled 25-year-old who has retired from the NFL twice since being a No. 8 overall pick by the Raiders a few years ago — that he’s deserving of a contract beyond his present cheap $700,000 one-year deal.

“He’s can be a difference-maker,” Jones said. “Of course, you’ve got to back it up, but his body language, just his approach to the thing is real inspirational to the team.”

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