FRISCO -- Dallas Cowboys rookie defensive end Charles Tapper finally detailed Monday what's been bothering his back for weeks. And it's not good news.

The fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma said he has a fracture in his back. Tapper said he has a stress fracture in his L5 vertebra and it's commonly called a "pars defect."

Tapper woke up at training camp in Oxnard, Calif., sometime around Aug. 10 -- a few days before the first preseason game at the Rams -- with severe back pain and no feeling in one of his legs.

Tapper said it took the Cowboys a few days to diagnose the issue, which wasn't detected in any tests at the NFL combine or in pre-draft evaluations or any other previous MRIs or X-rays.

"They said I've had it since I was a little boy," Tapper said. "When you look at my spine, it's like it's not attached in there. When I don't take care of it or get treatment, that's when it flares up.

"First time it was diagnosed. I just thought when you wake up, you know you got a little back pain, I'll be good. I went to sleep the next day and I can't even move my leg, I don't know if I'm paralyzed or something. It was pretty painful."

Tapper said he's been living with the back fracture most of his life.

"It's crazy," Tapper said. "I know what I need to do. My whole life I haven't had to deal with it, so I just have to get back into shape, get back to the right weight and lean up."

Tapper still isn't practicing with the team. He said he's hopefully he can get back next week.

Tapper said he's back running and cutting now. He said he still needs to get back into shape.

"It's very frustrating," Tapper said. "To go through my first training camp and then get to the preseason and then you don't get to play, you don't get to have the fun, you put in all that work but you don't get to get out there and have that fun on that Thursday game.

"I'm just day to day, listen to the trainers and as soon as they say I'm out there, I'm out there."

Twitter: @DMN_George

Get the latest Cowboys news here | Follow dmn_cowboys on Twitter | Like our Cowboys Facebook page here