Anthony Brown has overcome plenty to ascend from the ranks of a sixth-round pick to starter for the Cowboys, but his latest hurdle is a devastating one he'll need to climb back from
ARLINGTON, TX — It was an echoing victory for the Dallas Cowboys in their 54-19 shellacking of the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday evening, but it also came attached to a massive loss. The team saw cornerback Anthony Brown go down with just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter, ultimately carted off to the locker room and immediately ruled out with an ankle injury.
Following the game, owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the initial diagnosis on Brown is a torn/ruptured Achilles — more tests to come to confirm. It's likely a season-ending injury that will cost the Cowboys a starting cornerback.
"He's a guy that's fought his a– off year in, year out to earn his respect — let alone his starting position and playing time," said quarterback Dak Prescott after visiting with Brown in the locker room following the game. "I didn't even know it happened until I got into the locker room and then I went over there and tried to just love on him."
Not only is Brown's 2022 season done but, having suffered the injury in December, his long journey back might cost him training camp in 2023 as well. The veteran is one of only three holdovers from the 2016 draft class in Dallas and, as such, he and Prescott have an added connection.
"I saw he was taking it hard and I just told him that we're there for him for anything that he needs," said Prescott. "From [the 2016] part of the draft class, it's just me, him and Zeke. It's just as [safety Jayron Kearse]. It's a part of the game.
"It's a part of his story. It's a part of his journey that will make his stronger. And I know he knows how much he means to this team and that we're all there for him. It's just very unfortunate and we hate to see it."
Brown, a sixth-round pick who ascended from a flier pick that season to an eventual starter, logged 16 starts for the Cowboys in a career-best season one year ago — delivering three interceptions and 17 pass break ups in the process — just one year removed from having signed a three-year contract extension in 2020.
Having also started in all 11 of the team's games this season, his absence will most certainly be felt in the secondary, and thrusts the spotlight further on the youth at the position as the team also works through the loss of Jourdan Lewis for the season.
