What I see from the Dallas Cowboys: Replacing two injured forwards won’t be easy

Around The Star in Frisco, Texas, “September Football” is used as a whole in itself. This isn’t pre-season football – the results have real consequences for all 32 teams. However, with a lack of action before the start of the regular season, each team must address certain issues on the fly.

The calendar moved to October. The Dallas Cowboys are 2-2 and are in the thick of the NFC East race. The team’s end result after four games is not far from what many predicted, but the journey has turned out to be much more chaotic than most could have imagined.

Let’s take a look at what we’ve seen in the first month of the season and what it means.

Key injuries in defense

Even though we had known for several days that injuries would sideline Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence for some time, it still irritated me to walk into the locker room on Monday afternoon and see both players wearing walking shoes and riding scooters. When the two were last seen in the locker room after a game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Thursday night, they were optimistic about their situation on the field.

The next day, those comments aged poorly.

“I feel like I let people down,” Parsons said. “For a while I thought I was invincible. (It’s) degrading.”

Parsons hasn’t ruled himself out of Sunday’s game, but the Cowboys coaching staff told him “you probably won’t be able to go” to Pittsburgh. At this point, the Cowboys would only have one game left – at home against the Detroit Lions – before their bye week. While there is an outside chance that Parsons could play against the Pittsburgh Steelers and/or Lions, he will most likely return after the bye week with the San Francisco 49ers.

Lawrence’s Lisfranc injury is expected to keep him sidelined for an extended period of time. The experienced defender could go on injured reserve this week, which would mean a sideline of at least four weeks.

The Cowboys have players on their roster who will be looking to fill the void and are also considering outside options. It is unlikely that any of the veterans released at the end of training camp will return to the lineup, but there are other options available. On Monday afternoon, the team met with staff to discuss the scenarios.

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Third-year defenseman DaRon Bland appears to be close to returning to the active roster. Bland has been working on the sidelines during workouts with Cowboys track and field coach Britt Brown, but as of Monday evening, Dallas had not officially opened its practice window. The team is one step away from achieving this goal and expects it could happen as early as this week. Once the Cowboys open their practice window, they will have 21 days to activate Bland, otherwise he would go back to IR and be sidelined for the season. Playing in Pittsburgh would be surprising for Bland, but depending on how his success goes, he could be a candidate to return next week against the Lions.

In Bland’s absence, the Cowboys initially turned to the rookie, who selected Caelen Carson in the fifth round as an outside linebacker opposite Trevon Diggs. Carson missed Thursday’s game against the New York Giants with an injury, but it is minor enough that if the Cowboys had a full week, Carson would be able to play. He should be back on the field against the Steelers.

The Cowboys played this season without star running back DaRon Bland, who intercepted nine passes and threw for five touchdowns a year ago. (Jim Dedmon/Imagn Images)

Context clues

Media accessibility is interesting to evaluate. Yes, the vast majority of words spoken are platitudes and non-answers, but you can learn a lot from observing body language, tone, context, and more. With the Cowboys’ drastic ups and downs this season, there have been some good examples that have emerged to help understand the temperature around the team.

A good example is the days after the loss to the Baltimore Ravens, which occurred a week after the loss to the New Orleans Saints. CeeDee Lamb did not talk to reporters after the game, which is very unusual for a star player (he spoke a few days later at training and took full responsibility for his play and behavior). The day after the Ravens game, head coach Mike McCarthy had noticeably short (and somewhat dry) answers.

Things escalated after the win over the Giants. Most noticeably, Mazi Smith spoke to reporters immediately after the game and again in the locker room on Monday. Smith, who has spoken to the media several times since being drafted, played his best game as a professional on Thursday.

Information from players and coaches isn’t always authentic and insightful, but there’s a lot to be gained by knowing where a team’s temperature is based on the context of media availability.

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Reverse gear committee

The reverse gear situation was astonishing as it was disappointing. The Cowboys are starting to move away from a pure committee approach in the sense that Rico Dowdle’s tackles and rushing attempts are noticeably better than Ezekiel Elliott’s or Deuce Vaughn’s.

Elliott, who started the season at linebacker and hurdled a linebacker in his first game, has played 15 and 10 snaps, respectively, over the past two weeks. Maybe Elliott brings some value to the Cowboys – leadership, locker room camaraderie, pass protection – but it’s not just about running the football.

The Cowboys rank last in the NFL in rushing yards per game and are 31st in yards per attempt. The offensive line also has some blame, but the defense isn’t performing well enough. This will be worth monitoring when the Cowboys decide it’s time to take a look at Dalvin Cook.

The veteran was acclimating to the practice squad after joining the team late, but had already mastered the offensive language. Defensive injuries could impact when he gets a shot – there may be a greater need for depth on defense, but Cook’s time could come soon.

Time of possession

If there’s one fundamental stat that’s keeping the Cowboys in good shape right now, it’s time of possession. Entering play on Monday night, the Cowboys were 29th in the league in time of possession per game at 27:03. The fault lies on both sides of the ball. Regardless of Thursday, the defense clearly had difficulty stopping the run and generally wasn’t great at getting off the field. The offense is also looking better, ranking middle of the pack in third-down conversions and struggling to get any semblance of a decent running game.

“We’re not playing the football right now that we’ve been playing the last two years,” McCarthy said.

While third down is a surface issue, the bigger issue is the Cowboys’ play on first and second down. According to TruMedia, when the Cowboys are on third-and-5 or less, they are the No. 1 third-down team with a 75% conversion rate. When faced with third-and-6 or longer, they convert 16.7 percent on first downs, which ranks 28th in the NFL as of Monday night.

If the Cowboys are better on first and second down, their third down will be more manageable. If they use more successful third downs, the offense will be on the field longer and the defense will be less exposed. All this goes hand in hand and creates a stereotype about the importance of complementing each other with the game of football.

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Special teams

It will be worth monitoring personnel usage in the coming weeks as the defense deals with injuries. Whenever there are major changes in player availability on offense or defense, it has a lasting impact on special teams. For example, Marshawn Kneeland was on every special teams unit at the beginning of camp, but after Sam Williams was injured, he played exclusively on defense. Kneeland returned to some special teams units this season, but his role – and importance – in the catapult defense without Parsons and Lawrence meant there could be more changes on special teams.

The Giants elected to start the game deep in the end zone, limiting the Cowboys’ chances of getting back into the game. One thing to watch out for is how creative they will be when they get the chance to make a comeback again. Will both returnees be split on either side of the pitch, or will they start together in the middle and then split up? Will Juanyeh Thomas continue to be the other returning player, or will the Cowboys try Vaughn or someone else?

(Top photo of Micah Parsons: Michael Owens/Getty Images)