FRISCO, Texas — The season is now over for John Stephens Jr., after the young tight end suffered a major knee injury in practice on Wednesday, as the Dallas Cowboys continue their preparation for taking on the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football.
Stephens tore his ACL for the second time in as many seasons, the first occurring in 2023, when he went down in the preseason and subsequently battled through what became a redshirt season on injured reserve.
He will now return to IR for 2024 — the latest in a growing line of injuries in Dallas.
"I'm very disappointed," said head coach Mike McCarthy. "I think, to a man, you could just feel the energy sucked out of practice at that moment. We can't say enough about him. He's a young man with a very bright future, but this is just another setback, unfortunately.
"It's just the work that he's put in. He's here everyday. He's done everything that's been asked of him and, frankly, we were trying to get him more work coming out of the bye week. We had plans to try and get him more involved.
"Just a very unfortunate injury."
An undrafted free agent signing following the 2023 NFL Draft, Stephens quickly made a name for himself over the course of his first summer in with the Cowboys, so much so that he earned more and more reps in training camp and into the preseason, prior to his initial injury, creating a conversation headlined by his potential to be an impactful red zone target.
That was again the dialogue amongst the coaching staff following his return to this year's training camp, and though he hadn't yet made his debut for the Cowboys through the first six games, he continued to ramp up toward it.
The former TCU and Louisiana talent will now have to hope for better odds in his third season, following yet another very long and arduous road to recovery.
