FRISCO, Texas — The events of the 2024 season have been nightmarish for the Dallas Cowboys, and seemingly get worse by the week. The latest victims of the rabid injury bug are Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb, both having found their way to the M.A.S.H. unit this week after their loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
Prescott, however, is expected to blow right past the injury report and directly to injured reserve — contingent upon a second opinion to an initial prognosis that he will miss what could ultimately end up being significant time with a hamstring injury he’s “never felt before”.
Lamb has at least a remote chance of taking the field when the Philadelphia Eagles fly into AT&T Stadium, but the sprained AC joint in his shoulder will make it difficult to do so.
But even if he does take the field, he'll be far from 100 percent.
That begs the glaring question: what on Earth is next for the Cowboys' offense?
"We've got to win a game," head coach Mike McCarthy said on Sunday evening, before the MRI results arrived on Monday.
Expectedly, they’ll look to Cooper Rush to take the role of starter going forward, with Trey Lance serving as his immediate backup.
"It really doesn't change anything for us." said McCarthy. "This is about the quarterback room. … It's Cooper's turn, and Dak will be a part of that process. ... We believe in Cooper."
Leaving not ambiguity, pencil in Lance as the backup, not the potential starter.
"Trey is ready to go at the No. 2 spot," McCarthy added.
And with Prescott's roster spot made available, eventually, McCarthy also being a supporter of carrying more than two quarterbacks, it's possible he'll seek out a third to add to the team in some capacity — be it the active roster or, as was once the case with Will Grier, on the practice squad.
They recently worked out former TCU quarterback Max Duggan, or rather got a detailed look at him while he threw to receiver candidates at the team's headquarters, so that might be something to keep an eye on.
With the league's emergency quarterback rules now in place, the active roster would be the smarter of the two moves, by the way.
Things are much less clear at receiver, though.
The good news is the 21-day practice window for Brandin Cooks can be activated as early as this coming Wednesday, the veteran wideout having now missed four games on injured reserve with a knee injury, and that will allow the Cowboys until Nov. 27 before making a decision on the remainder of his season; but it would also give him a chance at returning as early as this coming Sunday against the Eagles.
Jalen Tolbert has become a viable threat in the absence of Cooks, and more would be asked of him if Lamb's snap count is diminished for pain management and/or if Lamb is ruled out entirely. The same will be true of Jalen Brooks, who saw a career-high number of reps against the Falcons in Week 9, and KaVontae Turpin as well.
It could truly be an opportunity for Ryan Flournoy, quiet as it might be kept, as the rookie sixth-round pick looks to make a name for himself at some point during his first NFL season — an uber-athletic receiver who could provide an archetype for Rush that doesn't exist elsewhere on the roster.
And then there are the practice squad receivers to account for, namely Jalen Cropper, Seth Williams and Kelvin Harmon. While Williams was a late addition to the roster (October), Cropper and Harmon made some waves in training camp and the latter was also impressive in preseason outings.
The bigger problem here is in how the absence of Prescott and the potential absence of Lamb will be viewed by opposing defenses that were already running two-high safety schemes to take the deep ball away from McCarthy's offense.
Rush is much more risk-averse than is Prescott, and no one outside of Lamb (Tolbert notwithstanding, a time or two) has shown they can be a downfield threat as of yet; and that's a combination of variables that will only embolden defenses to keep two safeties at the third level.
That means the Cowboys will lean that much more heavily on the rushing attack to try and draw one of the safeties downhill, but they've not had much success with that either this season.
The degree of difficulty carrying a 3-5 record into a matchup against the Eagles was already insanely high, and with the Houston Texans and red-hot Washington Commanders waiting patiently to step into the ring next, no less.
It's now astronomically so, and the mantra of "next man up" will be tested in a way it has never been in the McCarthy era.
Already reeling from round after round of adversity, the Cowboys now find themselves on the brink of being TKO'd in 2024.
That is unless they start landing haymakers — somehow, someway.
