ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Rolando McClain has been ruled out of Sunday's regular season finale due to illness, the Cowboys announced Saturday.
Just before the Cowboys' team flight departed Dallas for Washington D.C., it was announced that McClain had been downgraded from his Friday status of "probable" to "out." He did not make the trip to Washington for Sunday's game against the Redskins.
This brings about the end of an arduous week for McClain. One day after compiling four tackles in the 42-7 win against Indianapolis, word broke that his home in Tuscaloosa, Ala., burned down Monday night.
McClain was absent from the Cowboys' Wednesday practice while he tended to that situation. He was also listed on the team injury report with a knee injury – as has been the case for much of the past six weeks. He initially injured the knee Nov. 2 against Arizona, and he has been coping with that problem ever since.
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The linebacker, who is the Cowboys' No. 2 tackler on the season with 81 stops, practiced in full on both Thursday and Friday before developing the illness.
With McClain out, the Cowboys will likely turn to rookie Anthony Hitchens to play middle linebacker. Hitchens has played three all linebacker spots at various points this season as a result of injuries.
Bruce Carter popped up on the Friday injury report with a knee problem, but he was designated as "probable" for Sunday. Behind Hitchens and Carter, the Cowboys will also turn to Kyle Wilber, Keith Smith and Cameron Lawrence.
