FRISCO, Texas – Markquese Bell, a veteran safety of the Dallas Cowboys, is expected to go undergo surgery in the near future for his injured shoulder, per head coach Mike McCarthy, and it will likely keep him out for an extended period of time and potentially land him on season-ending injured reserve.
"Talk about a young man who has been just so consistent [and]has done whatever we ask him to do," McCarthy said. "He's been one of John [Fassel]'s core guys since the day he arrived here, so we'll definitely miss him."
The injury occurred at the start of the second quarter during the kickoff following KaVontae Turpin's touchdown, where Bell was in visible pain after trying to make a tackle on Dameon Pierce.
Special teams coordinator John Fassel got emotional in his weekly press conference on Tuesday when he was asked about the loss of Bell, knowing that the injury was a significant one.
"That one hurts," Fassel said after taking a few moments to collect himself. "He's played as good of specials teams ball through ten games as I can remember. He got hurt doing what he does best, just flying in there, diving."
Bell joined the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2022 out of Florida A&M, and he tallied two tackles on special teams this season. That said, his impact stretched far beyond what you see in the box score, especially for Fassel's unit.
"The emotions of [being] undrafted to wanting a little bit more, accepting his role, thriving in his role, I'm hurting for him because he was on a mission," Fassel said. "He was as good as we've had in a while. That one hurt."
