Cowboys injury list is long, but not many expected to miss Texans game

It’s Wednesday, and that means the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans have released their first injury report leading up to their Sunday night game.

Ezekiel Elliott was limping during the win over the Detroit Lions, but told reporters he not only was fine, he said he felt better than most weeks. He was a full participant today. Jeff Heath and Tavon Austin were also full participants after taking hits that kept them off the field for part of that game, which is a good sign that they will be ready to go.

DeMarcus Lawrence is the biggest concern among the limited participants, but there is very little chance he will miss the Texans game unless something unexpected transpires. Cole Beasley, Maliek Collins, Chidobe Awuzie, and Antwaun Woods were also limited. They all will be players to watch as game day draws closer, but most should be ready to go if they are getting some work now.

Collins is the biggest question mark as he was inactive last week, and we don’t know how close he is to getting back into the lineup. Having both him and Woods show up as limited might put a little extra pressure on David Irving, just now back from his four-game suspension. The question for him is how good is his conditioning after the layoff, during which he reportedly was more focused on getting right with his substance abuse issue. Travis Frederick and Sean Lee are expected to miss at least another week, while Terrance Williams’ status remains a bit of a mystery, since his absence is reportedly due to “personal issues” which still have not been disclosed.

For Houston, Jadeveon Clowney and J.J. Watt are two big names to watch, since they are such a big part of the pass rush. Watt has fought through a lot of injury issues in his career, and this week is not likely to be any different. The Texans are also dealing with a lot of issues around their cornerbacks and wide receivers, and they are shallow at both, only carrying five of each. Having hamstrings involved for two WRs is always concerning, and a DNP with the corners is certainly not helpful.

We’ll keep you updated with developments as they occur.