It's hard to fathom, really.
A guy who was just diagnosed with a syndrome that robs you of strength and balance, took a fellow pro athlete and threw him like a rag doll just a few weeks ago. Travis Frederick -- diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome this week, and facing uncertainty now, in football and in life -- went viral with a clip of him throwing Cowboys defensive lineman Brian Price to the ground early in training camp.
Frederick is a beast. And his teammates are here to support him, in his biggest battle yet.
"Travis has got two kids, a wife," Joe Looney said, "so, things are bigger than football. You know, we're focused on that. Most importantly, he wants to be able to play with his kids."
"He's handling it pretty strong," Cowboys right tackle La'el Collins said. "He knows that his family is there for him, and we're here for him as well."
That there is a diagnosis at all is a big development in itself.
"Training camp he really didn't know what was going on," Cowboys right guard Zack Martin said. "For them to get to the bottom of it was at least closure for him, that he knows what's going on with his body."
"It's obviously very tough to see," Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee said. "We've been praying for him. If there's anybody that can fight through this, it's Travis."
The Cowboys offensive line, when they're whole and healthy, is one of the best units in football, if not the best in the NFL.
But they're replacing perennial All-Pro Travis Frederick, with backup center Joe Looney, which is important, not only from an ability standpoint, but also because Frederick is the brains of this offensive line.
"He's a guy that we rely on a lot to make calls and to give us different things," Collins said. "Not having him there, it doesn't feel the same. But we'll get him back soon and he'll be fine."
In the meantime, Looney is confident he'll be ready.
"I sit next to Travis in meetings, so we would pick each others minds on, you know, 'what call you gonna make here?'," Looney said. "So, we'd all be on the same page, just in case, if something happens. So, we've prepared for this, and I'm ready to take it on."