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The Dallas Cowboys officially announced their practice squad on Sunday, and with that the smoke is starting to settle on roster construction ahead of Week 1.
Focus is clearly shifting for Dallas as they will be playing a regular season game against the Los Angeles Rams a week from now. Setting their roster ahead of that is obviously important, and doing so in times of Covid-19 is challenging in a way never seen before.
The NFL is allowing various rules to be modified in 2020 and as a result there are suddenly long-established veterans populating practice squads throughout the league. The Cowboys have an older player on theirs, and he is an old friend.
Brandon Carr is among the players on the Dallas Cowboys practice squad
It was reported on Friday that the Cowboys had Brandon Carr in for a visit which got a lot of anticipation going that a reunion was inevitable. The team has been modifying their practice squad all throughout Sunday and finally announced the 15 names in totality. As mentioned, Brandon Carr is among them.
- OT Issac Alarcon
- LB Francis Bernard
- DB Deante Burton
- DB Brandon Carr
- DE Ron’Dell Carter
- DT Justin Hamilton
- LB Ladarius Hamilton
- C Marcus Henry
- TE Cole Hikutini
- WR Jon’Vea Johnson
- DB Luther Kirk
- RB Sewo Olonilua
- WR Aaron Parker
- DB Saivion Smith
- DB Chris Westry
Most of these names are players that the Cowboys released during roster cut-downs on Saturday. It shouldn’t be a shock to see most of them. For what it’s worth, the mothership only listed 15 players, The Dallas Morning News also has Eric Smith as a part of the group.
Covid-19 protocols dictate that teams are allowed to keep up to six players with unlimited accrued years on their practice squad so that is how Brandon Carr is eligible for it. There is some question as to what is going to happen at secondary for the Cowboys with Jourdan Lewis potentially heading to injured reserve, but as you can see there are five defensive backs throughout this group.
Speaking of five, that is the number of years that Carr was a part of the Cowboys, a span that ended now four years ago. He was a valued member of the DFW community and incredible leader on the team throughout his tenure. Having him around the group is going to be a huge boost for them, especially rookies Trevon Diggs and Reggie Robinson II.
Update: 5:35 PM ET
For those wondering how the final spot was going to be taken care of, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer it will belong to Elijah McGuire once he passes Covid-19 protocols.
Once (or if) they pass COVID protocols, OT Eric Smith and RB Elijah McGuire will fill out the final two spots on the Cowboys' practice squad.
— Todd Archer (@toddarcher) September 6, 2020
That’s that.