FRISCO, TX — As has been the case on more than one occasion this season, the Dallas Cowboys find themselves working to overcome adversity on the injury front, and in a situation wherein they'll also have their hands full with the high-powered Dolphins at Hard Knock Stadium in Miami.
Malik Hooker is one name to watch this week, having missed the battle against the Bills due to an ankle injury. The starting safety did not participate in practice on Wednesday but was upgraded to limited one day later, and participated in the walkthrough on Friday.
"The plan is to see how much he can do tomorrow," McCarthy said. "He's definitely doing much better."
In the absence of Hooker, it was second-year safety Juanyeh Thomas getting the nod at starter, in a contest that saw Allen throw the ball just 15 times, completing only seven of his attempts in a game that was dominated by the Bills' rushing attack.
Hooker's presence could be felt in a major way against Tyreek Hill and the high-flying passing attack of the Dolphins.
Having enjoyed their full complement of starting offensive linemen for the past several weeks, it's now possible the Cowboys will be without Zack Martin and/or Tyron Smith in Week 16. The latter is working through a back injury while the former is rehabbing a quad contusion suffered in Buffalo.
Martin was able to participate in Friday's walkthrough for the Cowboys, a step in the right direction, but Smith was not — head coach Mike McCarthy noting that Martin is "ahead" of Smith at the moment in his recovery.
"Tomorrow's practice will give us the answer that we're looking for," said the Cowboys' head coach.
It goes without saying that they've been dealt several blows this season and, at this point, should have a good grasp on how to handle it — including a Week 3 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals that saw Tyron Smith, Zack Martin and Tyler Biadasz all sidelined with injury.
They'd go on to lose that contest, but it wasn't due to poor play from Chuma Edoge, Brock Hoffman and T.J. Bass. And with Bass having taken the majority of the reps against the Bills following Martin's injury in the first quarter, he and Edoga are expected to be ready to compete against one of the better defensive lines in the NFL this weekend.
"I thought [Edoga] played some really good football," said McCarthy. "When you have changes upfront, it's about how many adjustments you need to make. I think he's done a really good job, and it's later in the year now. I think, earlier in the year, it was a challenge because he was playing two positions — both guard and tackle — but he's now settled into the tackle position.
"So, we're better prepared for this."
