While the Dallas Cowboys picked up their first win of this young 2025 campaign this past Sunday, emerging victorious in a wild 40-37 overtime thriller against the New York Giants, America's Team still clearly has issues to address, particularly on the defensive side of the football.
Third-year linebacker DeMarvion Overshown won't be able to help in that regard anytime soon, as he continues to recover from the devastating right knee injury he suffered against the Cincinnati Bengals last December. But his having a chance to help at all this season is nothing but good news, as the severity of said injury (torn ACL, MCL, and PCL) had most thinking he wouldn't be back on the field until 2026.
And helping this team in 2025 is the ultimate goal, which is obviously admirable. The Texas alum looked good in the limited times we saw him during training camp (he also made his new No. 0 look fantastic) and was hoping to be back for the Cowboys' high-profile matchup with the three-time defending AFC champion Chiefs on Thanksgiving Day.
Cowboys' LB DeMarvion Overshown may return earlier than expected
And when asked on Monday about his progress and if he was still targeting Turkey Day to return, Overshown was hopeful that will indeed be the case.
"I'm getting there," Overshown said. "It's definitely to a point where we're getting the last clears from my surgeon, and now it's just easing me back into playing football. The knee is healthy, I'm moving around fast, strong, now just being smart with the timing.
"I don't want to say that's the target date, but I feel like I'll be playing football before Thanksgiving with the team."
It wasn't really clear whether his goal of "playing football" meant practicing in full or actually suiting up for a game, but progress is progress. And again, given the severity of his injury, the fact that he's even thinking about a return in 2025 is incredible. If he does indeed make his return to the field against the Chiefs and can stay healthy, that's six games he could potentially play in, plus any postseason action if Dallas can get there.
The issue is just staying healthy. After being taken by the Cowboys in the third round of the 2023 draft, Overshown missed his entire rookie year after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee in his second preseason game.
But upon his return a season ago, he looked like the star Dallas hoped he would be (and one they could certainly use right now), racking up 90 total tackles (56 solo), 5.0 sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, four pass breakups, and an interception, which he returned for a touchdown. And let's not forget that pick-six was on Thanksgiving Day.
Could history repeat itself come November? We'll find out soon enough.