Cowboys injury updates on Dak Prescott, Neville Gallimore, Sean McKeon
Outside of getting prepared for the upcoming NFL regular season grind, one of the top mandates while going through training camp and the preseason is to stay as healthy as possible. As the saying goes, you can’t help the club in the tub. Unfortunately, the injury bug bit the Dallas Cowboys fairly hard during their second preseason matchup on Friday night.
Playing against the Arizona Cardinals in an exhibition that ended in the Cowboys’ second loss of the preseason, two players left the contest with what appeared to be significant injuries. Now it appears we know the severity of those ailments and how long it may cause them to be sidelined.
Second-year defensive tackle Neville Gallimore appeared to injury his elbow in the game. That was later confirmed following an MRI. It’s now being reported by ESPN that Gallimore suffered a dislocated left elbow but it will not require surgery to correct. And that an unnamed source believes he could be out as long as 6-8 weeks.
The Cowboys are set to kick off their regular season in a game against the defending world champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night, Sept. 9. That means the earliest we might expect Gallimore might return is the Monday night matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week Three according to this estimate.
Not having Galimore manning the interior of the Cowboys’ defensive line is a significant loss for a unit that put up one of the worst performances in franchise history last year. New defensive coordinator Dan Quinn will have to hope his newest additions to the team like free agents Brent Urban and Carlos Watkins plus rookies Osa Odighizuwa and Quinton Bohanna are ready to fill that void.
Also suffering what appeared to be a significant injury on Friday night against the Cardinals was tight end Sean McKeon. It’s now being reported that McKeon suffered a high-ankle sprain. It’s believed he could miss anywhere between 4-6 weeks. The second-year player is coming off a nice training camp performance that appeared to cement him as the third tight end on the depth chart behind Blake Jarwin and Dalton Schultz.
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But not all the injury updates on Saturday were negative. According to the team’s official website, DallasCowboys.com, quarterback Dak Prescott‘s second MRI indicated that his right shoulder strain is healing nicely. According to Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News, Prescott, wide receiver Amari Cooper, and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence all have a chance to potentially practice this week, per a source.