Cowboys get 2 positive injury updates after Wild Card win (and 1 negative one)
By Jerry Trotta
What do Dallas Cowboys fans have to complain about after the team’s demolition of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night?
Well, Brett Maher’s capitulation springs to mind. Other than that, though, Mike McCarthy’s turned in a near-flawless performance. They didn’t turn the football over on offense, only committed two (2!) penalties as a team for 15 yards, and were a methodical 7-of-13 on third down and a perfect 2-for-2 on fourth down.
The only gripe fans might have is with the injury bug.
We all saw Micah Parsons struggle to make it to the locker room at halftime. Fittingly, the game-wrecker was on the field to start the third quarter, and the injury seemingly didn’t limit him from that point on judging by his performance.
In addition to Parsons, Jayron Kearse got banged up in the second half. Kearse is dealing with a sprained MCL — the same injury he had earlier this season — but the expectation is he’ll participate in Wednesday’s walkthrough.
The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for Jason Peters after he left Monday night with a hip injury in the second quarter and didn’t return. Per ESPN’s Todd Archer, Peters, who started the game at left tackle, could miss multiple weeks with the injury, putting him in doubt to suit up against the 49ers.
Jason Peters’ status for the Niners a little more dicey than Jayron Kearse. He could need a couple of weeks with this hip injury suffered vs. Bucs. That means Tyler Smith, Connor McGovern continue as the left side of the line.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) January 17, 2023
Cowboys Injuries: The latest on Micah Parsons, Jayron Kearse, and Jason Peters after Wild Card win.
Here’s what Jerry Jones told 105.3 The Fan about Peters.
“I certainly am concerned. I don’t know any more than we knew when we left there last night. We’ve got a little hope that it might not be serious. “But it’s important to realize that he’s not sitting here in his rookie year.”
Jones makes a good point. Peters will turn 41 in a couple weeks. Odds are it’ll take him longer than most players to recover from an injury. The silver lining is Peters avoided a serious injury, per Jones, but it’s really anyone’s guess when the future Hall of Famer will be available again.
That’s without question the biggest loss from the game. While the offensive line didn’t skip a beat without Peters, his potential absence could force the Cowboys to scrap their jumbo package with Connor McGovern lined up at fullback.
Moving on to Parsons, the Defensive Player of the Year candidate quelled any and all concerns about his injury postgame.
“I’m feeling good,” Parsons said. “I feel I finished the game well. Continued to get my pressure, continued to keep going, understanding the circumstances I was faced with. I’m excited for next week, excited for the matchup.”
Micah Parsons last night:
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 17, 2023
* 3 tackles
* 2 tackles for loss
* 1 sack
* 2 pass break-ups
* 2 QB hits
* 9 pressures, the second most by any player in a game this season (Parsons himself had 10 back in Week 2)
He wrecked that game.
In a bit of a surprise, Israel Mukuamu popped up on the postgame injury report with a hamstring injury. Mukuamu made the active roster Monday night and held his own (and then some) patrolling the nickel position. Like Kearse and Parsons, the Cowboys expect Mukuamu to participate in Wednesday’s walkthrough.
So make that three positive updates and one negative one. Not bad. We’ll have more updates throughout the week as we get closer to Sunday.
