Cowboys news: Injuries hit the defensive line, new player signed

The latest news surrounding the Dallas Cowboys.

DT Carlos Watkins signed; Jordan Phillips to IR – Nick Eatman, DallasCowboys.com

The Cowboys brought in a familiar face to add D-line depth.

The Cowboys have made a change in the middle of their defensive line, adding defensive tackle Carlos Watkins off the Commanders’ practice squad.

Watkins, who played for the Cowboys in 27 games from 2021-22, replaces Jordan Phillips, who was moved to IR with a wrist injury.

Phillips would be eligible to return after four games (Oct. 27 in San Francisco) if he’s cleared to play. The Cowboys have not determined how serious the injury is to Phillips, who was acquired by trade back in August during the middle of training camp.

The addition of Watkins brings a familiar face to the defense, although he played in Dan Quinn’s defensive system. Watkins left for Arizona in 2023 in free agency and spent one season with the Cardinals before rejoining Quinn in Washington. He was placed on their practice squad but did play last week against the Giants.

Overall, Watkins has played seven years, including the first four in Houston.

With the Cowboys, Watkins had his best year of his career in 2021, where he had a personal-best 32 tackles, including 17 solo. He also recorded his only career interception and touchdown with a pick-six against the Saints.

He left for the Cardinals in 2023 but a biceps injury required season-ending surgery, cutting his season to just two games played.

Cowboys defensive tackle Mazi Smith leaves practice with athletic trainer – Griffin McVeigh, On3.cm

The issues kept piling up for the Cowboys on Wednesday.

Wednesday has not been good for Dallas Cowboys defensive tackles. Head coach Mike McCarthy announced Jordan Phillips would be put on Injured Reserve after just two weeks, meaning he will miss at least the next four games. Not too long after, once on the practice field, an injury occurred to Mazi Smith.

No specifics regarding the injury are known at the time of publishing. Smith was seen walking off with the Cowboys’ head athletic trainer. Not what Dallas needed just a few days before the Week 3 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens.

“Cowboys DT Mazi Smith is leaving practice with head athletic trainer Dr. Jim Maurer,” Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram said via X. “This comes after the Cowboys had to put fellow defensive tackle Jordan Phillips on the injured reserve list this morning with a wrist injury.”

“He lost a lot of weight when he got here,” Zimmer said before the season. “He was trying to be an attacking 3-technique to get up the field. We’re gonna probably play blocks a little bit more, and try not to get reached so linebackers know where they’re supposed to fit — so forth and so on. That’s the biggest thing. … Yeah, it’s what he did in college.”

Now, there might be an injury for Smith to work through early in the season. An injury report should be released later Wednesday, likely giving more information and the status of Smith moving forward.

Cowboys running backs Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle among NFL’s least efficient through Week 2 – RJ Ochoa, BloggingTheBoys.com

Let’s talk about the Week 2 disaster just one more time.

A lot of things went wrong for the Dallas Cowboys last week. Picking and choosing just one thing to focus on would be like asking the kids to select a single candy out of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. There are too many options, but unlike there, none of these are delicious.

Losing 44-19 (a scorigami, at least) forces you to reevaluate anything and everything in the name of never letting it happen to you again. We needn’t assume everything will be broken forever and ever, but with two games now played this season we can start to draw legitimate conclusions about the 2024 edition of this club.

Obviously with Dallas getting boat-raced on Sunday the opportunities for running the ball, establishing your will and all that jazz, were far and few in between. But it does not take any level of advanced analysis to see that neither Ezekiel Elliott nor Rico Dowdle have set the world on fire through two games. But it is only two games.

The most recent performance from Elliott and Dowdle is what has people wondering whether a change is necessary. Consider that Jerry Jones was asked during his Tuesday appearance on 105.3 The Fan about whether or not the team was considering promoting Dalvin Cook to the roster from the practice squad this week. That sounds unlikely.

It is unfortunate that this is the case because Elliott and Dowdle both appear to be hard workers who will do more than is asked of them, but the data shows that they do not have the same sort of juice that other running backs in today’s NFL do. They are running quite literally uphill in many senses.

Trey Lance could be Cowboys secret weapon against Ravens in Week 3 – Randy Gurzi, Sports Illustrated

Trey Lance looks to do his best Lamar Jackson impression in practice this week.

Mike McCarthy held a press conference on Wednesday as the Dallas Cowboys prepare to face the Baltimore Ravens. Heading into Week 3 feels early to break out the ‘must-win’ label but this one feels like a contest the Cowboys have to pull off.

It won’t be easy, especially for a defense that was picked apart by the New Orleans Saints in Week 2.

Their confidence took a hit in the 44-19 defeat and now, they have to face the reigning NFL MVP, Lamar Jackson.

The good news, at least according to McCarthy, is that Dallas has a secret weapon to help them prepare — Trey Lance.

“Well, he’s dynamic, No. 1. We feel really good about what Trey [Lance] can give us there as far as running those scout teams reps, and Cooper [Rush] will handle some of the other things too,” the head coach said, via DLLS Cowboys. “Lamar is a dynamic, dynamic player.”

Yes, the same Trey Lance who threw five picks in the preseason finale. Of course, McCarthy doesn’t think Lance will help the defense by throwing them several interceptions and boosting their morale, but by using his athleticism to mimic Jackson.

Here are the Wednesday injury reports for the Cowboys and Ravens.