CLEVELAND – This might be as uneventful as the Cowboys' inactives have been all season.
Of course, they're dealing with some important injuries as they prepare to kick off against the Cleveland Browns. Starters Morris Claiborne and Barry Church are out, and swing tackle Chaz Green is sitting for the fourth-consecutive game. There's also the well-documented issue of Tony Romo's absence.
But with all four of those players being ruled out on Friday afternoon, there's not much suspense to worry about. In addition to those four, the Cowboys' other three inactives are Darius Jackson, Mark Nzeocha and Ryan Davis.
Davis is missing his second-straight game with a hamstring injury. Jackson and Nzeocha are healthy scratches to make way for other roster activity.
Notably, that activity will come in the secondary as a result of the injuries to Church and Claiborne. Kavon Frazier will be active for the fourth time this season to serve as depth behind J.J. Wilcox and Jeff Heath. In his previous three appearances on the game day roster, he did not participate in the action – though that seems likely to change thanks to the injury issues.
At cornerback, Leon McFadden will make his first appearance of the season and will wear No. 23. McFadden was called up from the practice squad on Saturday afternoon to help offset Claiborne's injury. McFadden was actually the 68th overall pick by the Browns in the 2013 NFL Draft, but he spent time with five other teams before landing in Dallas.
The Cowboys will turn to Orlando Scandrick and Anthony Brown to ease the injury problems, but the added depth was a necessity.
With Green again sitting out, Emmett Cleary will serve as the No. 3 tackle for the Dallas offensive line. Tyron Smith's back injury hasn't limited him in any games over the past month, but that still bears monitoring if something should happen to him in-game.
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