The latest Dallas Cowboys injury update raises important question only days before roster cuts
The Dallas Cowboys’ decision-making at defensive tackle during roster cuts will be really interesting to watch when the time comes. And this injury will likely influence it.
The Dallas Cowboys are officially back in Texas. On Tuesday night, they held their first practice of training camp at The Star in Frisco, Texas, as they gear up for their Friday night preseason finale against the New Orleans Saints.
With the roster cutdown deadline scheduled under 48 hours after the start of the Cowboys’ third preseason game, tough decisions loom in the horizon. And one injury update has me thinking about what things will look like at defensive tackle.
Jonathan Bullard still not practicing
Though not the biggest name in the defensive tackle room, Bullard was expected to play a significant part on the Cowboys defense. With a decade’s worth of NFL experience, Bullard was seen by some as a roster lock. He even was described as a “safe” player entering training camp by insider Nick Harris from Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The only problem is that since early August, Bullard has been out with groin and abdomen injuries. His status for the Cowboys’ return to The Star remains the same: He’s not practicing.
And heck, we’re under a week away from roster cuts.
At 6-foot-3 and 290 pounds, Bullard can provide flexibility for a Cowboys defense trying to be multiple and versatile. That’s valuable. But unless he’s ready to go soon, I wonder how his injury plays into his 53-man roster chances. Especially because the Cowboys like to have players returning from injury go through a ramp-up period. With Bullard missing most of camp and three games of the preseason (I doubt he plays Friday night), he’ll need one.
I do believe the Cowboys want to keep Bullard around. But will that be through placing him on Injured Reserve? It could be. Teams can designate two IR players to return on cutdown day. If they want to add more, those players need to make the initial 53-man roster before being placed on IR (which means waiving others and risk losing them on the waiver wire).
As of right now, this is how I see the Cowboys DT room shaking out:
- Quinnen Williams
- Kenny Clark
- Otito Ogbonnia
- LT Overton
- Jay Toia
Cowboys DT room outlook
If Bullard was healthy, I’d probably have him over Toia. But given his circumstances, I think the Cowboys may want to ensure they get some depth at nose tackle. Placing Bullard on IR or even risking him to waivers in an effort to sneak him into the practice squad would make a lot of sense to me.
That being said, there’s a big asterisk to all this: I just don’t know what his diagnosis is. Maybe Bullard is set to return sooner than we know. The good news is we’re over two weeks away from the Cowboys’ Week 1 clash with the New York Giants.
But it’s a situation worth keeping an eye on.
