The Dallas Cowboys are pretty beat up entering their Week 5 Sunday Night Football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Several notable players are already on IR, like DE DeMarcus Lawrence, DT Jordan Phillips, DE Sam Williams, and CB DaRon Bland. The defensive injuries have continued this week with several notables limited or sitting out of practice altogether. Star LB Micah Parsons suffered a high-ankle sprain on Thursday Night Football last week, and hasn’t practiced yet this week, while CBs Trevon Diggs and Caelen Carson were limited on Thursday. Both the defensive line and the secondary are running dangerously thin.
The offense is in better shape, but WR Brandin Cooks is unlikely to play after a complication from a minor procedure last week. Their WR corps is already pretty thin, and now even more so with Cooks out.
Friday’s report includes injury designations for the game with questionable being a 50-50 shot at playing, doubtful being more likely than not to miss the game, and they can also be ruled out.
The Cowboys held a walkthrough practice on Friday, so this is an estimated injury report via Patrik Walker on X.
COWBOYS’ WEEK 5 FRIDAY ESTIMATED INJURY REPORT
DNP
LB Micah Parsons (ankle) – Out
WR Brandin Cooks (knee) – Out
CB Trevon Diggs (ankle) – Questionable
LIMITED
CB Caelen Carson (shoulder) – Questionable
LB Marist Liufau (quad) – Questionable
FULL
S Markquese Bell (ankle)
OT Tyler Guyton (shoulder)
RB Rico Dowdle (wrist)
RB Ezekiel Elliott (dehydration)
WR Ryan Flournoy (dehydration)
As expected, Parsons and Cooks are both ruled out. That is their top defensive playmaker and their No. 2 wide receiver. With DeMarcus Lawrence already on IR, Chauncey Golston and Marshawn Kneeland will likely be playing a lot of snaps. As for receivers, it will be Jalen Tolbert, Jalen Brooks and Ryan Flournoy stepping up in place of Cooks.
The secondary is up in the air a little bit with Carson and Diggs both labeled questionable. Diggs was a borderline Defensive Player of the Year candidate just a couple years ago, so his absence would be very notable. He exited practice on Thursday with an ankle and did not practice in the walkthrough. Carson appears more questionable than Diggs, per another tweet from Walker.
With Bland already out, It would be C.J. Goodwin or Andrew Booth if one or both of Carson or Diggs are unable to go.
Rookie ILB Marist Liufau was a new addition today. They have a few inside linebackers with Eric Kendricks and DeMarvion Overshown both healthy, but Liufau has been playing well. We probably won’t know until 90 minutes before the game when the inactive list is released.
