Sean Lee Likely Out vs. Eagles with Hamstring Injury, Could Miss 'Several Games'

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee is likely to miss his team's Week 11 matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles because of a hamstring injury he aggravated in Sunday's loss to the Atlanta Falcons, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Monday.

Rapoport noted the close proximity between Sunday and Dallas' next game on Thanksgiving Day against the Los Angeles Chargers could preclude Lee from returning before Week 13 against the Washington Redskins.

Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said Monday that "it might be some time" before Lee is healthy enough to practice again, according to Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News. 

Lee missed a pair of games earlier in the year to nurse a hamstring injury, and the Cowboys announced he re-injured the hamstring during the team's 27-7 defeat to Atlanta in Week 10.

It's difficult to understate the 31-year-old's importance to Dallas' defense. After he missed the entire 2014 season due to an ACL tear, Lee reached the Pro Bowl in 2015 and 2016 and earned first-team All-Pro honors last year.

Despite missing two games, Lee ranks second on the Cowboys with 52 combined tackles, and he continues to be one of the NFL's best linebackers.

The Cowboys are already without Ezekiel Elliott after the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his six-game suspension. Now, a team that ranks 23rd in defensive efficiency, according to Football Outsiders, could be missing one of its leading tacklers for at least a pair of games in a critical juncture of the regular season.