The Dallas Cowboys saw several players go down with injuries during their 31-13 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night, none more notable than wide receiver Jonathan Mingo.
Just one play after notching a 49-yard reception on a fantastic deep ball from Joe Milton III early in the third quarter, Mingo was targeted in the end zone but landed a little awkwardly after attempting to make a leaping catch against Baltimore cornerback Marquise Robinson.
While things didn't look overly serious at the time, Mingo limped off the field, made his way into the medical tent, and was ultimately ruled out for the remainder of the game. An MRI revealed that Mingo will miss 4-6 weeks with a sprained PCL.
This obviously puts Brian Schottenheimer in a bit of an awkward position, as teams are required to finalize their initial 53-man rosters next Tuesday, August 26.
Jonathan Mingo's PCL injury means Cowboys' WR battle is far from over
The Cowboys can put Mingo at injured reserve/designated to return during final cuts. That would allow him to return this season, but it would knock him out the first four games.
Acquired by Dallas in a deal with the Carolina Panthers ahead of last season's trade deadline, the 2023 second-round selection didn't make much of an impact upon his arrival to America's Team, making just five catches for 46 yards on 16 targets in eight appearances.
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As one would imagine, Jerry Jones took tons of heat for sending a fourth-round pick to the Panthers to acquire Mingo, who underperformed in Carolina, making just 55 catches for 539 yards with zero touchdowns before being dealt to Dallas. And those numbers with the Cowboys obviously didn't make the trade look any better.
That said, though, Mingo has looked good over the first few weeks of training camp, with some suggesting that he could even battle Jalen Tolbert for the WR3 spot behind CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.
Brian Schottenheimer shut that down fairly quickly, but before this injury, Mingo was expected to be among the top five receivers on the depth chart alongside Lamb, Pickens, Tolbert, and KaVontae Turpin.
But Schottenheimer now has some decisions to make. While Mingo has performed well thus far, the same could be said for Ryan Flournoy, Jalen Brooks, and undrafted rookie Traeshon Holden. If Mingo goes on IR, that suddenly opens up an extra spot.