HOUSTON – The Cowboys' inactive list is just six players long in Week 5, as they deal with some roster juggling heading into Sunday night's game against the Texans.
The Cowboys placed Travis Frederick on the Non-Football Illness list on Saturday, and they placed Terrance Williams on injured reserve, freeing up two roster spots in the process. They added David Irving to the active roster, but they didn't fill the other roster vacancy. Playing with 52 men means that only six inactives are required to get to the game day limit of 46.
With that in mind, this week's list is comprised of Mike White, Sean Lee, Xavier Su'a-Filo, Dalton Schultz, Irving and Maliek Collins.
It's a pretty straightforward list. Irving and Collins were both ruled out on Saturday afternoon and did not make the trip to Houston. Irving is coming off a suspension and only practiced once this week leading into the game, while Collins is still not completely recovered from the knee injury he suffered in Week 2 against New York.
Lee was ruled out on Friday, as he continues to work his way back from a hamstring injury. In his place, Leighton Vander Esch will once again get the start on the weak side after making 10 tackles in his first career start against Detroit.
White, Su'a-Filo and Schultz have been mainstays on the inactive list for the majority of the season. As the third quarterback and eighth offensive linemen, respectively, White and Su'a-Filo don't have much of a game day role. Schultz was active for the season opener but has since been replace by Rico Gathers as the team's third tight end.
It will be interesting to see how the Cowboys' defensive tackles hold up with both Irving and Collins unavailable for this game. Antwaun Woods has been limited by a calf injury throughout the week, but he is expected to play alongside Tyrone Crawford, Daniel Ross and Caraun Reid as the Cowboys try to work through some depth issues along their interior.
