IRVING, Texas --The bye week has good timing for the safety position, with starter Gerald Sensabaugh and backups Danny McCray and Barry Church all banged up.
That said, it's worth noting that the Cowboys have a healthy safety on their practice squad. A part-time safety, at least.
Akwasi Owusu-Ansah, last year's fourth-round draft pick, played safety as a rookie but has recently tried his hand at wide receiver, changing his jersey number to 11. His only previous experience was playing a little receiver and running back in high school.
The Cowboys' receiver injuries first initiated the position switch.
"We like having him in a developmental role," head coach Jason Garrett said. "If you remember, when he came out of school, he's a small-school guy, was injured, missed his whole first offseason, missed time in training camp, missed time in his rookie year."
Garrett said the position change isn't permanent, and Owusu-Ansah said last week that he's still doing some scout-team drills at safety. If injuries persist, a move back to defense might not be out of the question.
"Right now my role is just to find a role on this team, being on the practice squad," Owusu-Ansah said. "If they want me to try to play receiver, that's what I'm going to try to do."
