OXNARD, Calif.– The Cowboys will open training camp with seven players on reserved/injured lists, team officials announced Friday afternoon.
Lance Dunbar, Maliek Collins, Benson Mayowa and James Hanna will start camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list, team executive vice president Stephen Jones said. The trio of Darren McFadden, Jaylon Smith and Damien Wilson have been placed on the Non-Football Injury list.
Those seven players will be unavailable to practice until they pass a physical – all of which could come at different points during training camp.
The two new developments are obviously Wilson and Hanna, both of whom suffered setbacks during the lead-up to training camp. Wilson injured his eye in a paintball accident last week, and Hanna showed up to camp with soreness in his knee.
Jones said he's not overly concerned about Hanna's injury, but the Cowboys are still in the process of determining the issue.
"He checked in today and had some complaints of some soreness there, so we're looking for it," Jones said. "It's precautionary, but we're going to start him there and see where that takes us."
The rest of the injuries aren't new developments. Dunbar is still concluding his rehabilitation on the torn ACL and MCL he suffered last October, while Collins broke his foot during OTAs in the spring.
Mayowa is still recovering from the knee scope he underwent in June, while McFadden is expected to ease his way back to the playing field after breaking his elbow in an off-field incident during OTAs.
Smith is a bit of a different story, as the second-round draft pick is still in the midst of a lengthy recovery on the major leg injury he suffered during his final college game in January. It's not expected that he'll be added to the roster any time soon, but he's not costing the Cowboys a roster spot in the meantime.
On the positive end of the spectrum, there are several other injured players that the Cowboys didn't see a need to place on the PUP list to start camp. Throughout the offseason, the group of Dez Bryant, Orlando Scandrick, DeMarcus Lawrence and Gavin Escobar was limited during OTAs and minicamp practices.
Those veterans will be limited when practices begin, but they will be able to ease into work on the practice field.
"There were some players that theoretically could have been put on there, but we feel great that they're going to be back," Jones said. "This allows them to do some work on the field, but they're probably not going to be thrown right in."
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