For the most part, the Cowboys escaped Thursday night's preseason opener without any major injuries.
However, there was one scare near the end of the first half when safety Danny McCray, easily the team's best coverage player on special teams, went down awkwardly and came up holding his left arm/shoulder.
The intense pain and lack of movement in his arm suggested a more serious injury and the Cowboys' athletic training staff quickly came to his aid. McCray was walked into the locker room with his left arm stabilized.
But X-ray results showed just a bone bruise for McCray, who will likely take at least a week to heal.
McCray has been working as a backup safety, although he did play with the first-team defense in a nickel package Thursday night.
But his real work will come on special teams, where he led the Cowboys in tackles last year with 28, including 25 solo stops. Special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis has often called McCray his best overall coverage player.
Certainly losing him for any length of time will be a big blow to a coverage unit team that already lost Sam Hurd, the special teams captain from last year who had 21 special teams tackles.
