Report: Cowboys center Joe Looney suffered sprained MCL, could miss 2-3 weeks

Early on in the game against the Cleveland Browns (literally the first offensive play), the Dallas Cowboys saw another one of their starting offensive linemen exit due to injury in center Joe Looney. Fourth-round rookie Tyler Biadasz filled in for him, as he did the week earlier in Seattle when Looney was briefly injured, and then when he was floated out to right guard while Zack Martin slid over to tackle. Biadasz played a majority of that game.

Many thought before the season started that Biadasz could be the team’s starting center from day one. Looney has history starting for the Cowboys as he filled in for Travis Frederick back in 2018 when the now retired Frederick missed the entire year, and the coaches decided that he was the team’s best option in the middle of the offensive line in the here and now.

Biadasz played well in Looney’s and deserves credit. He is going to have to live up to that standard for a little while, at the very least, as it looks like Joe Looney could miss a few weeks.

Joe Looney reportedly suffered a sprained MCL and could miss 2-3 weeks

Not a whole lot has been known about Joe Looney’s status and how long he could potentially be out, but that changed on Tuesday morning. It was reported by ESPN’s Todd Archer that Looney suffered a sprained MCL and could miss 2-3 weeks.

Starting center Joe Looney suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee vs. Cleveland and could miss 2-3 weeks, according to a source. Rookie Tyler Biadasz will replace Looney. Depending on how Looney, who was hurt on the first snap, progresses this week will determine whether the team places him on injured reserve, which would knock him out for three games.

While there is optimism concerning Biadasz this is still hardly an easy swap out like Indiana Jones had with the idol (although that didn’t exactly work out). This is certainly an easier pill to swallow than having Brandon Knight and Terence Steele play for Tyron Smith and La’el Collins, respectively, but the point is not to expect purely rosy results.

It was reported over the weekend that La’el Collins could miss the remainder of the season due to hip surgery scheduled to take place on Wednesday which means at no point this season will the Cowboys field the projected starting offensive line that we all thought they would have. The team has already played two games without 40% of their projected starters there, and while Tyron Smith is back in the fold, any number of games that Looney miss will only add to that count.