FRISCO, Texas – Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie will miss multiple weeks with a hamstring injury suffered on special teams against the Falcons, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said.
Awuzie got hurt in the fourth quarter of last Sunday's comeback win at AT&T Stadium. His injury is the latest for a Cowboys defense that lost defensive tackle Gerald McCoy to a season-ending quad injury the first week of training camp and currently has three players on the three-week-minimum injured reserve (linebackers Leighton Vander Esch and Sean Lee and cornerback Anthony Brown).
Last week the secondary got cornerback Jourdan Lewis back from an ankle injury, but Brown landed on IR Saturday with a ribs injury suffered in practice.
Now Awuzie, a starter at corner the first two games, is sidelined.
McCarthy didn't specify how the team plans to replace Awuzie for the time being but said Brandon Carr – the versatile veteran signed from the practice squad last week – will get some work at both corner and safety.
Carr played 17 snaps against the Falcons as part of a safety rotation with starter Darian Thompson and Daryl Worley.
"We're looking to get Brandon involved," McCarthy said. "Obviously with his experience, he brings a vast skill set to us. He'll be working at both positions, but there will definitely be some more focus on corner."
Rookie Trevon Diggs has started the first two games at the other cornerback spot. Worley has primarily played corner in his career, and Lewis has been effective mostly as a slot player for Dallas.
"We're going to work all those combinations. I'm really not going to get into who's playing where," McCarthy said. "Obviously with the number of changes we've had week to week, we're going to work different combinations and when we get to the end, we'll decide exactly how they're going to line up."
