FRISCO, Texas — There's not much time, if any, for the Dallas Cowboys to enjoy the fashion in which they overcame a mountain of challenges to escape Pittsburgh with a three-point victory against the Steelers in the closing seconds of the contest. With the injury bug having bitten them yet again on the defensive line, this time sinking it's teeth into Marshawn Kneeland, there is much to figure out.
Kneeland, the rookie second-round pick expected to garner a ton of reps in the wake of both Micah Parsons and DeMarcus Lawrence suffering injury in the Week 4 victory over the New York Giants, was knocked out of the game against the Steelers with a non-contact knee injury early in the first quarter.
He was carted off and did not return.
"We don't have a total timeline, but he's scheduled for a procedure [on Tuesday], is the initial plan," said head coach Mike McCarthy. "We'll see how that goes."
The procedure in question is both bad and good news, because it's arthroscopic and will likely cause Kneeland to join Lawrence on injured reserve for several weeks, but it also means he is not out for the remainder of the season — the initial fear. This means Lawson will be first in line to be signed to the active roster to take the seat vacated temporarily by Kneeland, seeing as Lawson can not be elevated from the practice squad again this season.
His third and final elevation occurred on Sunday.
So, outside of that, what comes next for the Cowboys at defensive end?
Well, if you're wondering about free agents, **tap this blue line**.
There is plenty for the Cowboys to sift through in those scouting reports. As for in-house solutions, it's a mixed bag of optimism and inexperience, in a situation where it's not only Parsons — who is "iffy" to return against the Detroit Lions in Week 6 — and Lawrence, and Kneeland, who are sidelined but, lest ye forget, Sam Williams will not return until 2025 from his torn ACL suffered early in training camp in Oxnard.
So, yeah, there's also that.
The addition of KJ Henry last week, having poached him from the Cincinnati Bengals' practice squad, was made to work in rotation with Kneeland, Chauncey Golston, Carl Lawson and Tyrus Wheat.
Henry was inactive against the Steelers to allow time for him to be ramped up by defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, but if there were any plans on allowing him one more week of inactivity, they're probably torched now. The young defensive end will be needed against the Lions, if only as insurance against another injury such as what was suffered against the Steelers.
The optimism side of the scale has to be rooted (aha) in what Golston, Lawson and Wheat were able to do against Justin Fields and the Steelers offense last week. Each of the three stepped up in eye-popping fashion in both the pass rush and in run defense against a mobile quarterback and impact running back in Najee Harris.
Lawson delivered three quarterback pressures while Golston and Wheat both had two, each had one-half sacks (1.5 combined) and seven combined run tackles with a couple of stuffed runs to round out their late night in the Steel City.
"They're all here for a reason," said Zimmer. "Obviously, you're down four good players in basically one spot, and so we try to figure out what these guys can do, how they can fit in, how they can work."
A quick look at what's to come as those puzzle pieces get figured out:
Opposing QBs through Week 12 -
- Jared Goff
- Brock Purdy
- Kirk Cousins
- Jalen Hurts
- CJ Stroud
- Jayden Daniels
Zimmer definitely made it work last week, but it's also true that things won't get any easier as the Lions visit AT&T Stadium, followed by a trip to take on the 49ers in Santa Clara and then the Falcons in Atlanta in the week that follows — with the Philadelphia Eagles, Houston Texans and division-leading Washington Commanders all on the schedule, respectively, in Week 10 through Week 12.
It's a gauntlet of high-level quarterbacks and rushing attacks (the 49ers would love to use the Cowboys as the springboard for a turnaround, by the way) that will ultimately shape the remainder of Dallas' season, for better or for worse.
They'll need to not only galvanize as they did in Pittsburgh, but there's a solid chance they will also need an outside hand or two.
It remains to be seen how the Cowboys will approach this over the next several days, but approach it, they must.
