Cowboys news: More injury news for the Cowboys ahead of week five

Cowboys LT Tyron Smith to have neck surgery, miss rest of season - Kevin Patra, ESPN.com

Get well soon Tyron.

After getting additional opinions, Tyron Smith opted for season-ending surgery on his injured neck.

Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy told reporters Friday that Smith will undergo surgery next week and will miss the balance of the season.

“This is something that needs to be done,” McCarthy said of Smith’s surgery, after the All-Pro left tackle had been dealing with the neck issue for a while.

Losing Smith for the rest of the 2020 season is a massive blow to the Cowboys offensive line, which has struggled at times this season. Dallas was already without starting right tackle La’el Collins, who underwent season-ending hip surgery.

McCarthy noted that Brandon Knight has been working at left tackle in place of Smith in practice. There is no replacing a seven-time Pro Bowler, however.

“Tyron Smith has done any and everything he can do to play,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, per Jon Machota of The Athletic. “The facts are, he’s a 10-year veteran. Surgery at this time is important for the rest of his career.”

Tyron Smith is out, and here are some options for the Cowboys to move forward - Tom Ryle, DallasCowboys.com

What will the OL look like with both starting tackles out?

Best player approach

LT Knight, LG Williams, C Biadasz, RG Connor McGovern, RT Martin

Martin filled in at RT in the Seattle Seahawks game, and looked like he had been playing there for a couple of years. This involves a tradeoff, since McGovern is a largely unknown quantity, and clearly a downgrade from the perennial Pro Bowler. But RT is more crucial than RG, and this should be a good net gain in effectiveness.

There is, however, a hidden problem with this lineup. With Looney out, it leaves the team with no backups at guard or center. The team has some options at OT, having recently added Greg Senat, and there are three OTs on the practice squad that can be called up - four if Isaac Alarcón, the International Player Pathway member could also be used. I am still confused about his real availability under that program, so for now I am not really counting him. Perhaps they have been working one or more of these players at guard and could plug them in as the backup for game day. That is unknown, and risky to boot.

This is the apparent reason they are bringing back Adam Redmond, who can backup all three interior line positions. He will provide badly needed depth. However, he will not be available this week, so for now moving Martin to tackle seems unlikely. Any injury to the three guys to his left would force him to move back inside and bring Steele back into the equation.

There have been some other suggestions, like Williams going back to his very successful college position of LT. Obviously that has the same issues as Martin, as well as locking the latter in at guard.

Keys To Victory: Cowboys Need To Keep It “Clean” - Bucky Brooks, DallasCowboys.com

Please don’t turn the ball over.

The Cowboys will win if…

The Cowboys will roll over the Giants if they play a “clean” game on both sides of the ball. If they are able to eliminate the turnovers, pre-snap penalties, and blown assignments, they will overwhelm the Giants with their superior talent. That said, the offense must come up with a plan that plays to their strengths (passing game) while also keeps their best player (Ezekiel Elliott) engaged in the game. Despite the significant advantages on the perimeter due to their five-star WR corps, offensive coordinator Kellen Moore has to give Elliott enough carries to help the Cowboys control the game (time of possession) and protect the defense (reduce the number of defensive snaps).

That doesn’t necessarily mean that Moore should scale back on the throwing with Prescott but he must remember to keep No.21 involved as a runner to balance out the team’s offensive plan.

On defense, Mike Nolan simply needs to get his unit to play hard and avoid freelancing. The Cowboys didn’t fly to the ball or hustle at a high level in Week 4. That has to change against a Giants’ offense that lacks legitimate firepower on the outside. This is the perfect week for Nolan to get the team back on track with their fundamentals utilizing a scaled-down game plan that helps each defender play fast and free between the lines. If the Cowboys avoid the blown coverage and flawed execution that’s led to big plays, particularly in the passing game, they should be able to beat up on a Giants’ team that lacks the star power to compete.

Dallas Cowboys: 4 Defensive Coordinators who could replace Mike Nolan - Daniel Ruppert, SportsDFW

Options for replacing Mike Nolan if it comes to that.

Dallas Cowboys Option 1: Jim Tomsula

Before we look at external options, let’s first see what we have right here at home with the Dallas Cowboys. Since bringing a guy in from outside midseason is so rare, it’s worth spending some extra time on the inside options, after all.

Even if he’s right here in Dallas, the least likely of the four options would be Jim Tomsula. Having only been a defensive coordinator in NFL Europe, Tomsula has been a defensive line coach for most of his career. He did have a stint as the 49ers head coach, but following the disappointing display that the offense had under him, and what was a very casual attitude, Tomsula was quickly fired.

One thing about Tomsula’s defensive lines, however, is they have usually performed pretty well. Granted he has had some good talent on his lines, but as for being a defensive coordinator, there is really not much known how he would handle a full defense.

What we do know is Tomsula was traditionally a 3-4 scheme guy and with the Dallas Cowboys are not built for that, moving him to head of the defense might not be the best move. His defenses have been traditionally good against the run, but he may be better suited staying where he is on the defensive line.

Expert predictions for Cowboys-Giants: Is this New York team just what the doctor ordered for Dallas? - SportsDay Staff

Predictions? Let’s hear em’!

Michael Gehlken

Sunday’s game script should provide a welcome change for the Cowboys, who have run an NFL-low seven offensive plays with the lead all year. They finally can conduct a four-minute offense, this after their running backs saw 21 carries during the second half of the past three games combined. Dallas has serious problems on its roster. There is little reason to expect New York to expose them consistently. Cowboys 31, Giants 13.

Damon Marx

The Cowboys always played hard for former coach Jason Garrett, who returns to AT&T Stadium as the offensive coordinator for the Giants. There were questions about the effort by this Cowboys defense, however, after last week’s home loss to Cleveland. If the Cowboys can’t get right this week against the lowly Giants, they’ll never get right. Expect an all-out effort by Dallas this week. Cowboys 30, Giants 16.

David Moore

Is there any game on the NFL schedule in Week 5 that has fans more excited than this one? OK, bad example. But come on, a dreadful offense vs. a dismal defense. You’ve got to admit there’s a certain prurient interest, like sitting down in front of one of those cheesy horror flicks at 2 in the morning that you can’t stop watching because it’s so bad. Luckily, this game starts a little earlier. Cowboys 35, Giants 17.

John Owning

The Giants are just what the doctor ordered for a struggling Cowboys squad. The New York offense may be one of the few units that is worse than the Cowboys’ defense, and the Giants’ defense doesn’t have enough talent to slow the Cowboys’ potent passing attack. The Cowboys roll to a two-score victory versus their overmatched divisional rival. Cowboys 28, Giants 13.

5 Bold Predictions for Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants in Week 5 - Brian Martin, Inside the Star

Bold. Predictions.

✭DeMarcus Lawrence has multiple QB sacks✭

The Dallas Cowboys haven’t played the New York Giants since Week 9 in 2019 and surprisingly enough that is the last time DeMarcus Lawrence had a full quarterback sack. Lawrence’s lack of QB sacks this season is a touchy topic, but I think he could get back in their good graces a bit this week with the multiple sack game I’m predicting for him. Giants QB Daniel Jones has been sacked 14 times already, which is why I think No. 90 puts him in the dirt a couple of times Sunday afternoon.

Rock bottom: It can’t get any worse than this for Cowboys-Giants - Tim Colishaw, Dallas Morning News

Battle of the worsts.

All in all, it’s about as favorable a ride as one can ask for, but no one can say these Cowboys are equipped to enjoy it. While most of the team’s problems can be traced to a defense that can’t stop the run (172.5 yards per game) and has given up 12 touchdown passes in four weeks, this offense can’t sustain its current scoring pace without a better offensive line.

And matters have only gotten worse. First we learned La’el Collins was out for the season and this week it was all-pro veteran Tyron Smith. Remove the starting tackles along with center Travis Frederick who retired in the offseason, and there is absolutely no chance the Cowboys have a good offensive line, much less one of the game’s dominant units.

So while it’s one thing to say the Giants can’t score, it’s unreasonable to assume Dallas is going to continue to pile up yards the way it did for the first four weeks. Defenses will come after Dak Prescott on either flank. Holes for the running game which have produced only 3.9 yards per carry for Zeke Elliott to this point will get even tighter.

For one week, though, the opponent here is beatable. For Dallas to make anything at all of this season, that has to be the case.

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