FRISCO, Texas — Anyone wondering why on Earth the Dallas Cowboys' cornerstone and record-setting receiver, CeeDee Lamb, continues to play despite an excruciating shoulder injury, just look at the influence it's having on the locker room, as Jalen Tolbert is demonstrating.
Tolbert left the eventual victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at one point to be evaluated for a finger injury after coming down with a huge reception in tight coverage ahead of halftime.
To hear him explain the injury is to understand just how severe it was.
"When I was coming up with the catch, my pinky finger got stuck in [the cornerback's jersey]," Tolbert said. "It hyperextended it — dislocated it. I had the ball and I was like, 'Why can't I squeeze this?' It sounds crazy, but it was all in slow motion. It was slower for me because I was trying to squeeze my hand.
"And then I got up and it and [the athletic training staff] popped it back in and stitched it up because it came through the skin."
You read that correctly.
Tolbert's finger was so hyperextended and dislocated that it broke the skin, requiring stitches.
But after scoring his two touchdowns in as many games, and after witnessing just how much pain Lamb is enduring to "willingly sacrifice his body for his guys", Tolbert isn't waving off a chance to help play Grinch against the Philadelphia Eagles — in much the same way he did against the Buccaneers.
"I came back out and it was more of an emergency at the time," said Tolbert. "… But it's feeling better each and every day. The [staff] is gonna help me out and take care of me. I'm ready to play whenever."
Time will tell if he's cleared to play in Week 17, but he has several days or treatment and rest to help his cause.
Tolbert, like Lamb, refuses to go gentle into that good night.
