The Dallas Cowboys were hit with a gut punch on Friday when Malik Davis suffered a season-ending hip injury. Davis has since undergone surgery and was placed on IR and Dallas swiftly signed Israel Abanikanda to the active roster from the practice squad.
That didn't necessarily confirm that Abanikanda would be active Sunday night against the New York Giants. Sure enough, Abanikanda was among the Cowboys' inactives, meaning he's a healthy scratch. He's still waiting to make his debut for the team after signing to the practice squad last November.
Javonte Williams, Emari Demercado, and Hunter Luepke will lead Dallas' backfield. Here are the rest of the Cowboys' inactives.
Player | Position |
|---|---|
Israel Abanikanda | RB |
Camden Brown | WR |
Tyrus Wheat | OLB |
Caelen Carson | CB |
Ajani Cornelius | OL |
Israel Abanikanda headlines Cowboys' Week 1 inactives vs. the Giants
The 23-year-old Abanikanda inked a futures contract with Dallas after last season, and his downhill running style caught the eye of the coaching staff throughout training camp. He deserved to make the practice squad over 2025 draft picks Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah, and the fact that he's now on the active roster signals that he'll have a role to play this season.
But why sign Abanikanda to the 53-man roster only to make him a healthy scratch? That suggests one of two things: Either he still has hurdles to clear before earning the coaching staff's trust, or Dallas is comfortable leaning on Javonte Williams, Emari Demercado, and Hunter Luepke for the time being.
It's probably more of the latter than the former. Abanikanda only recently rejoined the team, and Demercado offers more experience and versatility, particularly in the passing game. Luepke's value on special teams also makes him difficult to sit on game day.
Still, it was reasonable to expect Abanikanda to be active after the Cowboys promoted him to the 53-man roster to replace Malik Davis. Dallas clearly likes what he brings to the backfield. Otherwise, it wouldn't have used a roster spot on him. For now, though, he'll have to wait a little longer for his opportunity.
Anyway, let's move on to the Giants' side of things.
Giants WR Malik Nabers will play vs. the Cowboys
After what can only be described as an annoying wait, wide receiver Malik Nabers is officially active. That was the expectation all along, but Nabers gave everyone pause on Thursday when he made some innocuous comments to the media about risking his career over one game.
"I've been wanting to play for so long now," Nabers said. "But at the end of the day, I can't put my career at risk. I got to take that into account. There's a lot of football that I still have left to play. ..."
The Giants ultimately put the decision in Nabers' hands. If he was genuinely on the fence about suiting up, though, one would think the team should have intervened rather than leave such an important call entirely up to the player.
That makes his active status noteworthy. Nabers was candid about weighing his desire to play against the potential risk to his career, so this clearly wasn't an automatic decision. The fact that he's going to give it a go suggests he feels comfortable enough with where he's at physically, but it doesn't necessarily mean he'll be operating at 100 percent.
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