Cowboys Injury Report: Defense could be down couple of starters vs. Bills
The Dallas Cowboys offense is fighting adversity days removed from their Week 15 trip to face the Buffalo Bills. On Thursday's injury report, three players missed practice due to an illness. It's a not-too-unfamiliar enemy as Micah Parsons and others have fought similar situations earlier this season. Last week, Parsons was added to the injury […]
The Dallas Cowboys offense is fighting adversity days removed from their Week 15 trip to face the Buffalo Bills.
On Thursday's injury report, three players missed practice due to an illness. It's a not-too-unfamiliar enemy as Micah Parsons and others have fought similar situations earlier this season. Last week, Parsons was added to the injury report the very same day of the game.
Now, it's cornerback Stephon Gilmore and wide receivers Brandin Cooks and Jalen Tolbert that are affected. Additionally, Parsons remains listed on the report but he did practice in full. Per Patrik Walker from DallasCowboys.com, they're all believed to be battling the flu.
Based on Parsons' situation last weekend, it's fair to assume Gilmore, Cooks and Tolbert could very well be good to go by gameday. Cooks has been key to the evolution of the Cowboys offense as he's become the deep threat the team envisioned when they traded for him during the offseason. His 30-yard catch to set up a touchdown two plays later is only an example of why.
As for Tolbert, he's become a very important piece of the offense, too. While he's still not jumping out of the page in the stat sheet, he has averaged a 44% snap count over the last seven weeks and has been crucial for the team's blocking. Both in the running game and in pass protection.
Cowboys Thursday Injury Report vs. Bills, Week 15
Although the three names mentioned above might be the most popular players missing practice, they might not be the most relevant. Instead that is free safety Malik Hooker, who has missed two weeks of practice with a shoulder injury.
Hooker's availability is going to be key on Sunday. The Cowboys love to play man coverage or Cover 3 when they do zone. That means Hooker's role is that of a centerfielder which endures a lot of stress vertically and horizontally to stop the deep passing game from opponents.
The Cowboys rank ninth in the NFL in explosive plays allowed, per Arjun Menon. That could be different without someone doing the work that Hooker in the backend. Josh Allen will have no trouble finding motivation to throw it deep and if he knows the starting free safety of the team is out with an injury, he could make the Cowboys pay for it.
While he's work often goes unnoticed overshadowed by cornerbacks Gilmore and DaRon Bland as well as Micah Parsons and friends up front, this could prove to be one of the costliest blows to the defense.
Add to that Johnathan Hankins' expected absence and we're talking about a really challenging showdown for Dan Quinn's unit without two key starters.
