It's been evident in the first six games that the Dallas Cowboys are an average team. Having said that, injuries have been the story of their season so far. You couldn't name two teams in the NFL that have had worse injury luck than Dallas.
Let's quickly run through the players that are currently injured or have missed time due to injury: Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, DaRon Bland, Eric Kendricks, Brandin Cooks, Marshawn Kneeland, Tyler Guyton, Sam Williams, Caelen Carson, Chuma Edoga and Nathan Thomas.
That list is big enough to field an NFL offense or defense. It would be hard for any team to overcome that many injuries.
The Cowboys hope to get Parsons and Bland back for Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers, but the jury is still out on that. While we wait for updates on Parsons and Bland, Dallas received more devastating injury news coming out of Wednesday's practice.
Cowboys tight end John Stephens Jr. suffers another torn ACL
John Stephens Jr. suffered another season-ending knee injury (ACL) and "very unfortunate", says MM, having occurred during Wednesday's practice.
— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) October 24, 2024
Promising tight end talent with a second ACL tear (same knee as 2023) in as many seasons.
He's yet to make his debut for Dallas.
Mike McCarthy confirmed that tight end John Stephens Jr. suffered a torn ACL in his left knee on Wednesday.
Stephens missed all of last season with the same injury in the same knee. That injury occurred during an impressive preseason. Stephens was on track to make the 53-man roster as an undrafted free agent and he worked hard to get back for the 2024 season and wound up making the roster.
Stephens had yet to be active for a game this season, but those within the Cowboys building are bullish on his potential. A hamstring injury cost him the first three games and though he was a healthy scratch for the last three contests he was ramping up toward his debut.
It is a devastating turns of events for Stephens, who will hope for better luck in 2025 as he grinds through another lengthy rehab.
Fortunately for him, Jake Ferguson is the only established tight end on the roster. 2023 second-round pick Luke Schoonmaker is playing just 32% of the snaps this season and undrafted rookie Brevyn Spann-Ford is still learning how to be a pro.
There might be a path to next year's 53-man roster for Stephens, but that doesn't account for potential growth from Schoonmaker and Spann-Ford and possible additions to the tight end room via the draft or free agency.
Coming off two major surgeries to the same knee, it's hard to deny that the future looks bleak for Stephens in a Cowboys uniform.