FRISCO, Texas – The word “snakebitten” has been used to describe the bad injury luck the Cowboys have had through six weeks of the 2024 season so far. And now the bite has spread to the tackles leader of Dallas, Eric Kendricks, who was ruled out for Sunday’s game because he is dealing with a calf and shoulder injury.
Nick Vigil, Kendrick’s backup and the Cowboys’ other “green point” option, was listed as questionable due to a foot injury. He didn’t practice Friday, but the coaching staff will see how things go Saturday before making a final decision.
“We’ll make the decision on Saturday, see how we get off the field tomorrow, obviously training everyone that has the potential to play,” head coach Mike McCarthy said.
McCarthy didn’t show any of his cards in his weekly phone call with the media, with a quick and direct response to a question about what the Cowboys would do if Kendricks doesn’t play.
“We’ll find out on Sunday.” McCarthy said.
Now, there is no need to wait until then. The Cowboys will need to replace Kendricks, who leads the team with 52 tackles. He is the only Cowboys player with a sack and interception this year, both of which occurred against the Browns in Week 1.
So what are Dallas’ options at linebacker with Kendricks out and Vigil questionable? Damone Clark is the first one that comes to mind. He had a strong start to the 2024 season with 11 tackles in the first two weeks of the season, but has totaled just four since then and one in the last two weeks. Then there’s Buddy Johnson, who has played in just two games this season and added one tackle. Practice squad options include Brock Mogenson and Darius Harris.
“Darius looks great, he’s ready to play, he’s just waiting for an opportunity,” McCarthy said of Harris. “Very pleased with the way Darius has been practicing.”
Harris played his first four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he had 58 tackles and 1.5 sacks in 33 games, but has not played in a regular season game since Week 14 of the 2023 season.
In an interview with 105.3 The Fan, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones named Clark and Harris as the players he would like to see fill the holes in this defense on Sunday.
“Obviously, we have players like Damone Clark, who we want to get back to normal, we have [Darius] “Harris, we have a good group of players there that can hopefully step up.”
Someone will have to step up in the absence of Kendricks and potentially Vigil on Sunday afternoon, especially considering how explosive the rushing offense is coming to town. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery have rushed for 556 yards in four games, which is more than 15 entire NFL teams have rushed in five weeks.
Of note, in the rest of the injury report, Micah Parsons (ankle) is out, Caelan Carson (shoulder) is questionable, as is DaRon Bland (foot), although he did not practice on Friday. Trevon Diggs returned as a full participant on Friday after battling an illness and missing Thursday’s practice. That adds to a Cowboys defense already playing without DeMarcus Lawrence and Marshawn Kneeland.
