While there has been wide speculation surrounding David Irving for the last several months, that hasn't changed although his status did on Saturday.
The defensive tackle seemingly took one step closer to making his debut when the Cowboys decided to activate him from the reserve/suspended list on Saturday and place him on the 53-man roster. However, he is not expected to be in Houston for the game and will be inactive.
The Cowboys were able to clear not one, but two spots on the roster by placing both Terrance Williams and Travis Frederick on injured reserve.
Irving has been suspended the first four games of the 2018 season for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. However, unlike last year's four-game suspension for performance-enhancing substances, Irving did spend training camp and the preseason with the Cowboys in practices and games.
To make things even more complicated, Irving only practiced Wednesday of this week, and then missed both Thursday and Friday for personal reasons.
Still, the Cowboys – both Jerry Jones and Jason Garrett – have said all along this week they were expecting Irving to play Sunday night and that appears to finally be the case.
And it's now a position of need, considering the injury situation at defensive tackle. Maliek Collins, who missed last week with a knee injury, and has also been ruled out Sunday night.
Also, Antwaun Woods has been dealing with a calf injury that he suffered last week and is questionable to play Sunday night.
With Irving now on the roster, the Cowboys' defensive tackle position includes Tyrone Crawford, Woods, Daniel Ross and Caraun Reid.
Since the Cowboys will only have 52 players on their roster, NFL rules prohibit teams from having a full practice squad as well. The team has waived defensive tackle Christian Ringo.
