FRISCO, TX — Needless to say, following the embarrassing loss by the Dallas Cowboys against the Buffalo Bills in Week 15, it's paramount the former bounce back against what will be an arguably more dangerous team, the Miami Dolphins, and they'll need Zack Martin on the field to help their chances.
Martin left the matchup against the Bills on the Cowboys' second offensive series with what appeared to be a knee injury, but has since been labeled as a quad contusion.
"I thought I maybe did something with my knee there the way it got hit," Martin said after the game. "We went back and checked it out, luckily my knee was stable and felt good. I got hit deep in the quad. We went to the tent, it stiffened up and wasn't firing for me.
"A fluke thing, I guess. … I'm hoping, this week, to treat it and get it ready to go on Sunday. I feel good about that."
The team itself is also optimistic about his chances for taking the field in South Florida.
"Zack Martin, as you know, is a warrior," said Stephen Jones to 105.3FM the Fan on Monday. "He had that injury going into the game, he had a bruise there and, unfortunately, got another one on the same spot."
The perennial All-Pro right guard did not return against the Bills, and the pressure felt by quarterback Dak Prescott was clear-and-present thereafter.
"There's no one I would count on more to answer the bell and have an opportunity to play next week," Jones added. "It's certainly something he couldn't play through last night, but we feel good that he'll respond to our trainers — who will give him every opportunity to play against the Dolphins."
Martin has been sidelined with injury for just one game so far this season, and that was the eventual loss to the Arizona Cardinals in the desert.
Mike McCarthy and Co. are hoping that remains his only absence in 2023, seeing as he's still arguably the top interior lineman in the NFL, and in how the Cowboys can't afford to be without him for such a critical stretch of football.
"He'll definitely have a chance to play this week," said the Cowboys' head coach.
And now, it's just a waiting game to see if he does.
