Cowboys tight end Rico Gathers placed on Injured Reserve

One of the big bright spots for the Dallas Cowboys this preseason has been the emergence of tight end Rico Gathers. The former Baylor Bears basketball star had been a huge playmaker for the Cowboys offense before going into concussion protocol after Dallas’ preseason game against the Indianapolis Colts. Gathers finished his 2017 preseason with seven catches for 106 yards and two touchdowns — that averages out to 15.1 yards per reception.

Unfortunately, the Cowboys will not be able to utilize Gathers’ big play ability for awhile, as the big and talented tight end is headed to IR. Todd Archer reported the speculated news on Monday:

Archer notes that Gathers “can return to practice in six weeks and play in eight weeks provided he is cleared from the concussion protocol”.

As we await Gathers’ healthy return to the football, a roster spot is open. There have been whispers about Kellen Moore potentially being added back to the 53-man roster. Our own RJ Ochoa wrote on the idea of temporarily bringing tight end Gavin Escobar back.

If/when the Cowboys do place Rico on IR he’ll be theirs and that’s the main goal, but they’ll also be somewhat in need of help in the tight end group. Gold Jacket Jason Witten is awesome, but there’s a sense of hesitance with both James Hanna and Geoff Swaim considering they’re both coming off of season-ending injuries.

But regardless of what the Dallas Cowboys decide to do, we hope that Rico makes a full recovery.