The Sports Xchange

IRVING, Texas — Defensive end Greg Hardy joined practice with the Dallas Cowboys on Wednesday, but he already talked his way into a controversy Tuesday while discussing Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots.

Hardy and linebacker Rolando McClain were fresh off their respective four-game suspensions when they suited up for practice Wednesday. McClain was out because of a substance abuse violation. Hardy’s suspension was the result of a domestic violence situation involving his ex-girlfriend.

Against that background, and in an NFL that is approaching zero tolerance level for the appearance of an impropriety, Hardy probably should have stuck to football when he talked to reporters Tuesday.

Instead, he made a weird comment about quarterback Tom Brady’s wife, supermodel Giselle Bundchen, and her sister and friends.

“I love seeing Tom Brady, he’s cool as crap,” Hardy said. “Have you seen his wife? I hope she comes to the game. I hope her sister comes to the game, all her friends come to the game. One of my favorite games of the year, guys.”

And when prodded by an equally insensitive remark that Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles also had an attractive wife, Hardy took the bait.

“Is she?” Hardy replied. “This kind of information is important. That’s how I select my Pro Bowls.”

Clearly Hardy did not seem to show that his suspension gave him an enlightened perspective. In fact, he hinted that because the domestic violence issue allowed him to sign with the Cowboys, the whole episode was a good one for him.

Brady was asked about Hardy’s unprofessional remarks on Wednesday. Did it bother him?

“No, I’m just getting ready to play,” Brady began. “I’m focused on my job. He’s a great player. It takes a lot of different things to handle a guy like that. He’s been a great player since he’s been in the league. We’re going to have to prepare for him and be ready for all the different types of moves that he’s got. They have a good D-line anyway. They count on getting pressure from their front four to get to the quarterback.

“I don’t really care about his personal feelings.”

At the NFL owners meetings in New York, commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about Hardy’s remarks, but replied that he had not yet heard them.

Hardy refused to go into details when asked about a May 2014 domestic violence incident that has kept him out of NFL regular-season games for 14 months. He ended last year on the commissioner’s exempt list and was suspended for the first four games this year.

“It’s hard to get sacks when you’re not on the football field,” he said when asked about how tough the last year has been. “That’s my main purpose in football, to get back there and get sacks and make a difference on the team, and I wasn’t able to do that. It was a process mentally for myself.”

Hardy deflected all questions about the domestic violence incident and his suspension. He refused to reflect back.

“I’ve been on the field lately,” Hardy said. “In the last few seasons, this honestly, it’s been a blur, getting ready to come back. And now that I’m back, I don’t reminisce. I don’t look back, other than to know that I need to get to practice, and I need to get to sacks, and I need to get to the place where I need to be to help this team. That’s where we’re at right now.”

The Cowboys had only 28 sacks last season, a big reason they signed Hardy, and have only six sacks this season, including three last week against New Orleans.

“I hope I come out guns blazin’,” Hardy said. “I’m full of excitement and full of juice. I’m ready to go. I have what they call fresh legs. I’m really excited to get out there on that grass or turf and see what they can do.”

Hardy served his four-game suspension and lost $2.2 million in possible roster bonuses. The Cowboys structured the deal as best they could to protect themselves from a possible suspension when they signed Hardy in March.

Hardy also has a maximum of $1.804 million in incentives that are going to be harder to attain because of the suspension. He will earn $500,000 for eight sacks, $1 million for 10 sacks, $1.4 million for 12 sacks and $1.804 million for 14 or more sacks.

McClain, meanwhile, scoffs at the suggestion that his return coupled with the return of Hardy will instantly turn the Cowboys’ maligned defense into a dominant one.

“We ain’t focused on none of that,” McClain said. “At the end of the day, Greg’s excited to be back, I’m excited to be back. We just want to contribute to the defense and do our part on this team to make this team better. But we’ve been out four games and that’s terrible. We just want to come back and play good football.”

McClain not only missed the first four games of the season with the suspension but missed all of the off season, minicamp and training camp rehabbing from knee surgery.

McClain doesn’t know how long he will play Sunday but he will go into the game with a simple attitude.

“As much as required,” he said when asked how much he can be expected to do. “When the ball’s snapped, the ball’s snapped, so go get the guy with the ball.”

Garrett said they will be smart about McClain’s reps in practice this and in the game. Unlike Hardy, McClain had no work with the team in the preseason. So Sunday will be the first time he faces live action since the playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers last January.

“It is a challenge,” Garrett said. “You don’t just roll out there and play. But he has been working hard. He’s been with us for the first four weeks of the season so he has been in meetings and he has been conditioning on his own. And we’re excited to get him back out there.

“He is a good football player. He’s got good instinct and feel for the game, so we do think he will pick things up quickly. But again we will watch him day by day and hopefully get those guys ready to play this week.”

NOTES: Among those who did not practice Wednesday are TE James Hanna (ankle), LB Sean Lee (concussion), WR Brice Butler (hamstring). … LB Keith Smith was signed to the active roster after passing through waivers when he was cut from the practice squad Monday. … DE Lavar Edwards is expected to be signed off the practice squad to the active roster, filling the spot left by running back Lance Dunbar, who is scheduled for knee surgery Friday.