Clarity emerges for several Dallas Cowboys' injuries that have become legit head-scratchers
Make no mistake about it, the Dallas Cowboys were a bad football team entering the year even before injuries began to happen. But that doesn't take away from the reality that they've been bitten hard by the injury bug in 2024. From quarterback Dak Prescott to Micah Parsons and more, the Cowboys have dealt with […]
Make no mistake about it, the Dallas Cowboys were a bad football team entering the year even before injuries began to happen. But that doesn't take away from the reality that they've been bitten hard by the injury bug in 2024.
From quarterback Dak Prescott to Micah Parsons and more, the Cowboys have dealt with significant absences all year long. But the weirdest of all have been to multiple players that were placed on Injured Reserve and that have seemed to take a much longer time than expected.
DaRon Bland, for instance, has been quite the head-scratcher. Bland suffered a foot injury in training camp that required surgery and reported timetables at the time indicated that Bland would miss six to eight weeks. At one point, that appeared to be the case as the All-Pro cornerback was activated to practice leading up to Week 6's matchup against the Detroit Lions.
He was a full participant for a couple of practices and was expected to play before suffering a setback that has kept him out since. He's up to 10 games missed including tonight's showdown against the Houston Texans, for which he was ruled out over the weekend.
The whole sequence has been so weird that head coach Mike McCarthy had to address questions about potentially shutting down Bland for the remainder of the season just last week.
However, clarity emerged on Monday afternoon when Stephen Jones claimed on 105.3 The Fan that both Bland and rookie defensive end Marshawn Kneeland will be returning to the field pretty soon.
"The great news is going into next week we're getting ready to get what I think is a whole list of players back," Jones said on the radio. "Whether it's a (Marshawn Kneeland), Bland, etcetera. These guys are right in the cusp of returning."
It's good to know Bland and Kneeland are on their way back even though the season appears to be beyond saving at this point. It'll be important for the latter to get some more reps in there as a rookie while Bland could use playing time as well to avoid being rusty with a missed season in 2025.
Don't expect DeMarcus Lawrence to return that soon
However, Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence isn't in the group above, as Jones explained he was never expected to return before Thanksgiving. No mention was made about WR Brandin Cooks, who has been on Injured Reserve alongside Lawrence since Week 4.
