Dallas Cowboys need reinforcements at safety due to injury

Dallas Cowboys safety Marqueston Huff suffered a groin injury in his first preseason game with the team, leaving the team thin at the position.

Avoiding major injuries is the primary focus for NFL teams in the preseason, and it’s something the Dallas Cowboys did a good job of in their first game against the San Francisco 49ers. Guard Marcus Martin and safety Marqueston Huff are the only two players looking at extended time out.

Though both players are backups, they’ve been getting important reps at positions without much depth for Dallas.

Knowing they would be thin at safety before training camp, the Cowboys confidence in Kris Richard to work with only Jeff Heath, Kavon Frazier, and Xavier Woods at safety may diminish without Huff.

Other backups to the Cowboys trio of “starters” include Tyree Robinson and Jameill Showers. Respectively, they played 25 and 34 snaps against the 49ers.

It was Showers that was beat to the spot on the game-winning touchdown pass, capping a 77-yard drive that took just six attempts into the Cowboys backup secondary.

Despite entering his fifth year, it’s hard to know exactly what the Cowboys are losing in Huff should this setback cost him more time than expected. The Wyoming product has yet to truly stick anywhere in the NFL following two years with the Tennessee Titans.

What we do know is that Huff is a capable, athletic body at safety that’s no longer an option for the Cowboys to turn to with another week in Oxnard and three preseason games to go.

I say all the time that “life comes at you fast in the NFL”, and the Cowboys will realize this if they turn to the free agent market at safety. As of a two weeks ago, Kenny Vaccaro and Tre Boston were both signed much later in free agency than expected.

Perhaps the silver lining here will be the Cowboys safeties coming out better this season due to extra reps now. Relying this heavily on these players, when they’ll be expected to hold up as the last line of defense for a unit that looked otherwise dominant in the game, is a situation the Cowboys should be looking to avoid though.

Exactly how they do this may provide insight into their thoughts on the progress this Dallas secondary has made as a whole.