Hopefully, Dallas Cowboys players enjoyed their 34-31 win over the Houston Texans on their flight back home. Because they need to turn the page quickly. Thursday Night Football is coming up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and they can’t afford to drop it.

And with it being a short week, I thought it would be worth it to take a quick look at the Cowboys’ injuries and see who is playing and who isn’t in Week 5. Though a lot remains unclear, head coach Brian Schottenheimer teased the potential returns of a couple of key players.

Schottenheimer on LG Tyler Smith, LB DeMarvion Overshown

UPDATE: The Cowboys will try to work Smith and Overshown into practice on Tuesday, with Smith’s practice window being opened on Monday.

The biggest names to monitor going into Week 5 are left guard Tyler Smith and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown.

“We’ll figure out some more information (Monday), but both guys are trending positively [toward playing Thursday],” Schottenheimer said postgame. “Until we get to probably Tuesday, we won’t really have a great idea.”

Smith is eligible to come off Injured Reserve after undergoing thumb surgery. Monday could be the day where his practice window is opened, and based on Schottenheimer’s comments from last week, the Cowboys aren’t worried about a short week ruining Smith’s chances of returning to the field.

As for Overshown (hamstring), he was originally expected to miss one to two games and he’s up to three already. To hear optimism about his potential return is significant as the Cowboys need all the help they can get at linebacker. Based on what we’ve seen so far, Barham will likely stay put at middle linebacker while Overshown takes Winters’ spot in the starting lineup on nickel looks.

CB Cobie Durant’s return unlikely

Though we haven’t heard anything specific on Cobie Durant ahead of Thursday Night Football, he sure seems like a long shot to play. Last week, Schottenheimer revealed Durant “still has a little ways to go” before he takes the field again.

I don’t expect a short week to be enough for him but Week 6 could be a realistic return scenario as the Cowboys get a much-needed long week after the Bucs.

On Sunday’s win in Houston, the Cowboys rotated recently-acquired Joey Porter Jr. with Shavon Revel Jr., Ameer Speed, and Shavon Revel Jr. The latter played only 13% of the snaps as he’ returned from injury’s nursing a knee injury.

Players on IR

While the above names are eligible to return Thursday, these IR players are not:

• S Jalen Thompson
• DT Jonathan Bullard
• S P.J. Locke

We will update this story with Monday’s injury report when it becomes officially. NFL teams typically avoid practicing on short weeks, so expect the Cowboys to focus on walkthroughs for the most part.