The Dallas Cowboys arrived at training camp with something more exciting than the few flash plays that would follow at practice: A clean bill of health. After a few injuries popped up at OTAs, with several players still sidelined from the previous season, the defense, in particular, got some reinforcements.
But injuries are a natural (albeit unfortunate) part of football, and this all-clear from the Cowboys' training staff was never going to be permanent. After a long offseason, fans re-learned this quickly when newly-added free agent safety P.J. Locke suffered a knee injury during Wednesday's run.
However, head coach Brian Schottenheimer made sure to let everyone know that Locke's injury scare was indeed just a scare.
"Brian Schottenheimer said PJ Locke suffered a hyperextended knee in practice and will sit today," wrote ESPN's Todd Archer. "Schottenheimer doesn’t believe it is anything significant."
Dallas caught a major break.
Dallas Cowboys strike it lucky with good news on P.J. Locke's injury
Locke will be an integral part of Christian Parker's new-look defense, so losing him for any significant period of time would have been devastating. Malik Hooker and Jalen Thompson will be the starting safeties, but Locke is the next man up and should have a solid rotational role.
And while his missing a few days is far from ideal at this juncture of the preseason, considering the Cowboys have a new scheme to learn and so many new puzzle pieces to fit together, it certainly beats the alternative. And Schottenheimer said that Locke's tests looked great, so no need to worry.
In six NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos, Locke has been a stalwart, playing in 90 of a possible 101 games. Although the one-year, $4 million deal that he signed this offseason may not have been a black mark had Locke been sidelined for a long period, it wouldn't have been too palatable, either.
Although there are no "good" sides of the coin when looking at injuries, the silver lining that Dallas can pull from this is that players like Markquese Bell and Alijah Clark should now get an expanded chance to prove to the Cowboys' staff that they are worthy of a roster spot or rotational role.
Depth is critical in the NFL, as this recent scare with Locke proves. Injuries can happen at any moment, and Dallas needs to be prepared. Locke, the staff can probably say with some certainty, may not need as many camp reps as players like Bell or Clark. So, we'll take what we can with this news.
It remains to be seen exactly when Locke will return to practice, but it sounds like it won't be until next week. With the alternative potentially being the whole season, the Cowboys certainly caught a break, even if injury news is never a good thing.
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