The Dallas Cowboys might be 0-1, but they are taking a lot of positives into their Week 2 game against the New York Giants, a team they have dominated for the last decade.
Given how New York's offensive line looked in Sunday's loss to the Commanders, the Cowboys' defensive front could be primed to feast. It will be interesting to see if Mazi Smith is active after he was a healthy scratch to open the season.
What is definitive, though, is that Dallas will be without Perrion Winfrey once again due to his back injury. In fact, it will be a while before Winfrey takes the field again as the Cowboys put him on injured reserve on Tuesday, knocking him out for at least the next four weeks.
Cowboys place DT Perrion Winfrey on IR with a back injury
This is a devastating break for Winfrey, who earned his spot on the 53-man roster with an exceptional summer. He was arguably the Cowboys’ most impactful rotational defensive lineman in the preseason - a performance that backed up everything reported during training camp
Teams are allowed to return as many as eight players from IR during the regular season. There's nothing to suggest Winfrey's injury will end his season, but the earliest he can return is Oct. 6. That begs the question of what Dallas will do with the open spot on both the active and game day roster.
Mazi Smith is a logical candidate to replace Winfrey on the game day roster, but Brian Schottenheimer noted after Week 1 that he needs to see more consistency from the former first-round pick.
"Mazi is going to play a lot of really good football. He’s not even begun to reach his peak. But the consistency has not been there and therefore, if your philosophy is compete every day, then that’s what you have to do, make those decisions" Schottenheimer said.
As far as the active roster is concerned, Ryan Flournoy makes a lot of sense. The second-year receiver was activated from the practice squad for Week 1. He only has two more elevations before he must be signed to the 53-man roster if Dallas wants him to play a fourth game.
The coaching staff trusts Flournoy to contribute on special teams, but there might be a role for him in the WR rotation after Jalen Tolbert put forth embarrassing effort against the Eagles.
The Cowboys have plenty of options at their disposal, but it's hard not to feel for Winfrey after all the work he put in to make the team. Hopefully, he can get back on the field soon.