Cowboys Playoff Injuries: Henry Melton Ruled Out For Sunday, Anthony Hitchens' Status Unclear

The Dallas Cowboys will face the Detroit Lions without one of their defensive linemen, while the status of a few other players is unknown. Coach Jason Garrett has ruled defensive tackle Henry Melton out of Sunday's game, and Melton's agent has stated he thinks Melton will be out at least a few weeks. The defensive tackle suffered a bone bruise on his knee during the Washington game.

Anthony Hitchens has the high ankle sprain, but the Cowboys are not ready to rule him out of Sunday's game.

Hitchens, a rookie who has played as well as any Cowboys linebacker over the last month, suffered a right high ankle sprain Sunday. Hitchens started at middle linebacker against the Redskins in place of Rolando McClain, who didn’t travel with the team to Washington because he had the flu and a 102-degree temperature Friday night. Garrett said Monday that Hitchens, who can play all three linebacker spots, is "day to day" and "hopefully he can practice this week."

Rolando McClain should be ready to go this week.

The Cowboys are also looking at Doug Free's availability, although the play of Jeremy Parnell has made it easier to rest the right tackle as long as needed. Dallas is hoping that Free can practice on Wednesday. Also lost in the mix of injuries was the sudden inactive designation for Josh Brent before the Washington game. It turns out that his calf started acting up during warm-ups, leading the Cowboys to deactivate him for the game. The team is hoping that Brent can play this week. It would help since they will be without a defensive tackle in Henry Melton.