Cowboys news: DT Maliek Collins breaks foot, expected to miss most of the offseason

Defensive Tackle Maliek Collins Breaks Foot; Injury Likely To Require Surgery -Rob Phillips- Dallas Cowboys
Maliek Collins broke his left foot during conditioning drills at the Star.

Defensive tackle Maliek Collins broke the fifth metatarsal in his left foot Thursday during the Cowboys’ voluntary offseason strength and conditioning workout program. The injury is expected to require surgery, and the Cowboys seem hopeful Collins can be ready for the start of the season. Whether he can return before then remains to be seen.

Maliek Collins of Dallas Cowboys to have left foot surgery again- Todd Archer- ESPN
Cowboys DT Maliek Collins is scheduled to undergo surgery on his left foot for the second time in five months.

Collins suffered the injury during workouts at The Star on Thursday with the Cowboys in the second phase of the offseason program. Collins is scheduled to have surgery, and he could be ready in the middle of training camp with an eye to the Sept. 10 season opener against the Carolina Panthers.

Collins played through a lot of the 2017 season with a sprained left foot that was repaired in January. As a rookie in 2016, he had a similar surgery on his right foot and missed most of training camp and the preseason but managed to play in every game, starting 14.

Defensive tackle Maliek Collins breaks foot -Drew Davison- Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Dallas Cowboys defensive line suffered a blow to the depth chart with Maliek Collins' foot injury.

Collins has dealt with foot injuries since his rookie season. He broke his right foot during organized team activities (OTAs) as a rookie, which caused him to miss part of training camp. But Collins played every regular-season game, including 14 starts.

The Cowboys have used Collins as the under tackle and nose tackle in the 4-3 Tampa 2 scheme run by defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli.

Collins started last season as the under tackle when David Irving served a suspension to start the season and missed games later in the year due to a concussion. When Irving was available, Collins played nose tackle.

Is it surprising that Dez Bryant hasn't found a new team yet? Here's what has worked against him | SportsDay
Why hasn't Dez Bryant found a new team yet?

Brandon George: Yes, I am somewhat surprised Dez Bryant hasn’t found a new team yet. But he wasn’t helped by the Cowboys being released so late in free agency and so close to the draft that teams were locked in on that and had moved past adding veterans. He’s also not helped by an inexperienced agent. His agent should have known his market better and pushed him to accept Baltimore’s three-year, $21 million offer. Bryant thrives in a structured environment and would really help himself by going through his new team’s full offseason program. I would think he’d find that new home by the end of May but will have to settle for a one-year incentive-laced deal.

Report: Cowboys talks with Terrell McClain are heating up per source -Michael Sisemore- Blogging The Boys
The Cowboys may be welcoming back the "Dancing Bear" soon enough as talks have moved towards a contract.

If these talks are heating up there may be a deal to bring back the “Dancing Bear” to Dallas. Terrell McClain had his best season while he was a Dallas Cowboy. In 2016, McClain had 40 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Last season in Washington those numbers were cut in half. One season after signing a three-year, $21 million extension, McClain was shown the door. Though he won’t be able to command that type of money in a return to Dallas, it’s still seemingly a marriage that benefits both the Cowboys and McClain. Terrell McClain would be a great addition to a Cowboys defense and would allow Maliek Collins to play at the 3-tech position, which is where Collins had five sacks as a rookie.

Jason Garrett Outlines New Structure For This Week’s Rookie Minicamp -Rob Phillips- Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys are altering their plans for the rookie minicamps that take place over the weekend.

“Really it’s something that we’ve studied for a number of years, trying to figure out what’s best to ask them to do at the outset because of where they’ve been,” Garrett said. “They haven’t been in the offseason program. So, we want to make it aggressive, we want to make it intense for them, we want to get them to understand what we’re asking them to do at a very high level, but maybe laying the foundation in the offseason program rather than going full speed at practice is a better way to transition.”

Police close investigation of Dallas Cowboys' David Irving-Todd Archer- ESPN
The investigation of a complaint of domestic violence against Cowboys defensive lineman David Irving has been closed by the Frisco Police Department.

A woman identified as Irving’s girlfriend called police twice on April 23 but later wrote on an Instagram post that her allegations were false. She said she was upset over an argument that led to neighbors calling 911.

”David did not put his hands on me at any time,” the woman wrote.

Earlier in the offseason, Irving signed a second-round tender worth $2.9 million as a restricted free agent and is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after the season.

Jason Witten talks about joining ESPN's and MNF- Clarence Hill- Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Former Cowboys tight end had an official conference call as a member of the MNF crew.

JASON WITTEN: I’m so excited to be joining ESPN and the Monday Night Football team, and as they said, I’m champing at the bit to get started. In January, February, March and most of April this year, I was planning on playing football, but when you’re 36 in the NFL, I think it’s fair to say that you’re always day-to-day, and when this opportunity arose to be a part of an institution like Monday Night Football, for somebody like me who just has so much respect for this game and growing up as a kid, never missing a Monday Night Football game, to join this team. I realized that it was about a team, and I felt that chemistry, and just honored to join it and to join Boog, and I’m just champing at the bit. I know I’ve got a lot of work to do. Looking forward to sharing my knowledge and my insight on the game of football that we all love.

Jason Witten: 'I'm sure it'll be a little bit emotional when I come back' before Monday night game -Jon Machota- SportsDay
Jason Witten acknowledges that he will likely be a little emotional when he re-enters the Star as a broadcaster for Monday Night Football.

“Sitting in those meetings over the years, I’m very comfortable doing that,” Witten said. “I’m sure it’ll be a little bit emotional when I come back to The Star and see some teammates and friends of mine. But I think that’s just part of the process. We all experienced it. There’s special moments and emotions that go into it. But I’ve had the opportunity over the last week to really reflect, and I’m so proud of the way I approached the game and the people I was able to do it with.

”Now I’m able to transition into this and attack it the same way that I did for 15 years as a pro player. So it’ll be great to see those guys, but we both got a job to do and I think there’s a healthy respect for that.”

2018 Cowboys Rookies Arrive @ The Star [VIDEO] | Dallas Cowboys
Take a behind the scenes look as the Cowboys' rookies experience arriving to the Star before rookie minicamps.