Should the Cowboys sit Zeke against the Saints? Gives him a good break before heading into four division games in the last five weeks? — EARL DIGGER / PORTSMOUTH, VA
Rob: That sounds great, but they also need him Thursday. Make no mistake, this will be a challenging matchup for the offense because of the crowd noise and the Saints' defensive front. If Zeke can push through this week, he'd get a extra few days of rest on that mini-bye before Washington. But I just think it comes down to how he's feeling this week. He said Sunday it's something he can continue to manage and that no one has approached him about resting.
David: I just think Zeke does too much in addition to running the ball. I can't say I like the idea of leaning on Tony Pollard and Corey Clement for blitz pickup in a hostile road environment. I get that he's limited, but if he can go, he's valuable enough to have him fight through it. There's a small break coming up on the other side of this game. Get to the other side and you get a small chance to rest everyone, Zeke included.
Can you provide some insight into the O-Line rotation the Cowboys utilized against the Raiders? I don't recall them ever doing that. Is this going to be their approach moving forward? — ROBERT GONZALEZ / LAWTON, OK
Rob: Mike McCarthy said they were being mindful of the players' snaps on a short week, so they gave Connor Williams and La'el Collins a series in the game. Obviously, though, left guard and right tackle have been the two most competitive spots, so they're looking for the right combination, too. But it's hard to imagine a consistent in-game rotation, just because continuity is more important on the line than anywhere else. Terence Steele is on the Reserve/COVID list this week, so Collins is the expected starter at right tackle against the Saints.
David: I don't think I've ever seen anything like that, and I don't really think Mike McCarthy's reasoning holds water. He's been talking all season about how important continuity is, so that just seems to fly in the face of his preferred philosophy. It was definitely weird, but it doesn't seem like it's going to be an issue this week. It's obviously not ideal for Terence Steele to be unavailable with COVID, but it takes a lot of the guesswork out of the lineup.
