Cowboys 'pretty confident' Sean Lee will play Sunday

Cowboys Chief Operating Officer Stephen Jones believes linebacker Sean Lee will pass concussion protocols and be available to play against the New England Patriots Sunday at AT&T Stadium.

"He'll go through all the protocol and hopefully the severity is not significant here and pretty confident here he can go through all the steps and hopefully be ready to go against the Patriots," Jones told "The G-Bag Nation" on 105.3 The Fan on Monday.

Lee left Sunday night's game in New Orleans with a concussion sustained late in the first quarter as he collided with Saints tight end Benjamin Watson on third-and-5 from the Dallas 10. It is the second concussion of his six-year career.

Whether Lee goes or not, the Cowboys will be getting reinforcements in the front seven as defensive end Greg Hardy and linebacker Rolando McClain make their 2015 debuts coming off four-game suspensions.

"We think we can obviously improve ourselves here on the defensive side of the ball," said Jones. "But we've got to work with what we have out there, and I know we'll do that. And we've lost a couple tough ones here, but we'll rebound."

The last time Lee had a concussion was on Dec. 19, 2010 at home against Washington. Lee was listed as questionable the next week at the Arizona Cardinals on Dec. 25, but the Penn State alumnus found a way to play.