3 causes for concern from Cowboys narrow win vs Texans

2. Injuries to starters

The Cowboys’ injury report has been an incredibly short read in recent weeks, but they suffered a number of scares on Sunday.

Before the game, Jayron Kearse was assisted to the locker room with an apparent leg injury, before returning and starting the game. Suffered during warmups, Kearse’s freak injury marked the start of a long afternoon on the injury front.

In the second quarter, underrated space-eater Johnathan Hankins was removed with a shoulder injury and didn’t return.

In the same quarter, Trevon Diggs left the game with a thumb injury. He went back to the locker room before returning, albeit with his hand heavily wrapped. Additionally, promising rookie tight end Jake Ferguson (neck) was ruled out after exiting the game just before halftime.

The biggest concern, though, occurred when right tackle Terence Steele was undercut by a Texans defender while finishing off a block. Unable to brace himself for hit, Steele went down awkwardly and was helped to the locker room. He was quickly ruled out with a knee injury.

2021 fourth-round pick Josh Ball replaced Steele and was so dreadful in limited action that Dallas benched him for Jason Peters.

Steele’s been a model of consistency at right tackle this season, allowing just four QB hits and one sack over 417 pass-blocking snaps, to go with a sublime 82.4 run-blocking grade from PFF. Losing him for any period of time would be a brutal blow to an offensive lie that’s on the verge of getting Tyron Smith back.