FRISCO, Texas – Once again, the Sunday following the cut-down day proves to have even bigger news than the day before.
As expected, the Cowboys will officially be without the services of La'el Collins and Sean Lee, who were both placed on IR to Return. That means they are removed from the 53-man roster and won't be eligible to return until three weeks. The Cowboys also placed wide receiver Ventell Bryant on the same list, creating a total of three open roster spots.
The Cowboys have filled those with veteran linebackers Joe Thomas and Justin March and cornerback C.J. Goodwin.
Thomas was actually released Sunday morning to make room for wide receiver Malik Turner, who was claimed off waivers. March and Goodwin were among the players released on Saturday to initially trim the roster down to 53.
But the big news centers around Lee and especially Collins, who has only missed one game in the last three years. The right tackle has been dealing with a hip injury that has caused him to miss most of camp. Collins started off training camp on PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) but was moved to the active roster last week when he was able to return to practice. However, Collins participated mostly in individual drills. These three weeks will allow Collins to get healthy and in football shape.
Veteran Cam Erving, a former first-round pick of the Browns, was signed in the offseason to be the swing tackle. He will likely start at right tackle now opposite Tyron Smith. The Cowboys also kept Brandon Knight and rookie Terrance Steele on the roster.
As for Lee, the veteran linebacker has seen his snaps limited throughout at camp. That is nothing unusual as the Cowboys have managed his workload during this part of the season. However, Lee hasn't been able to practice much in the last two weeks and is being placed on IR to Return in hopes he can be ready by the start of October.
Bryant was injured in the Cowboys' night practice at AT&T Stadium, needing to be helped off the field with a leg injury. He's one of the team's better special teams players so it's likely the Cowboys will be eyeing his return after three games as well.
The Cowboys now have six receivers on the 53-man roster in Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup, Cedrick Wilson, Noah Brown and Turner, who was added on Sunday.
The Cowboys are also expected to finalize their 16-player practice squad, which will include many of the players released on Saturday that have been with the team throughout the offseason and camp.
