Latest injury updates make recent Cowboys roster move feel much less important
The Dallas Cowboys activated cornerback DaRon Bland to their 53-man roster on Wednesday, removing him from Injured Reserve and setting up an imminent return for the first-team All-Pro defender. At first sight, the news is big, as it means the Cowboys defense gets a major boost going into Week 9. However, Thursday's injury report already is […]
The Dallas Cowboys activated cornerback DaRon Bland to their 53-man roster on Wednesday, removing him from Injured Reserve and setting up an imminent return for the first-team All-Pro defender.
At first sight, the news is big, as it means the Cowboys defense gets a major boost going into Week 9. However, Thursday's injury report already is making it feel much less important as Bland has yet to be a full participant in practice and beyond him, Mike Zimmer's defense is seriously banged up elsewhere as Micah Parsons is also trending not to play.
To start off with Bland, it should be noted his activation to the roster had more to do with the Cowboys running out of time to add him to the 53-man squad than with his actual healing.
Players that are returning from IR are eligible for a 21-day practice window. If players designated to return aren't activated within those 21 days after returning to practice, they have to return to IR for the remainder of the season. In this case, Bland's window was opened ahead of Week 6. In other words, the Cowboys had to activate Bland before losing him for the year.
However, he has yet to be a full participant in practice and is far from a guarantee to be active on Sunday. McCarthy told reporters Bland's warm-up on Thursday would determine whether or not he'd practice. He didn't.
As for Parsons, it sure sounds like he's a longshot to play, as he'll be in the rehab group on Thursday, per Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, who told reporters "Until they clear the return-to-play with Britt (Brown), I really don’t even entertain that thought. So he’s not quite there yet."
To add insult to injury, Trevon Diggs is missing his second practice this week due to a calf injury. The Cowboys have had some serious issues in terms of depth and now Diggs and Bland both have availability question marks heading into Sunday.
The Cowboys will take on the 5-3 Atlanta Falcons on Sunday afternoon for their Week 9 showdown as they stay on the road for the second consecutive week.
Cowboys Thursday injury report vs Falcons
UPDATE: Indeed, Parsons, Bland, and Diggs all were non-participants on Thursday's practice, which means there are serious doubts about their availability on Sunday. Brandon Aubrey returned to practice after spending last week on jury duty.
