This just forced the Cowboys hand...

This just forced the Dallas Cowboys hand as we have some major updates directly from Brian Schottenheimer ahead of the Packers game this Sunday in regards to positional alignment, especially on the defensive side as with a lot of changes coming. There now has to be a decision made with the latest injury updates that we got this morning. Welcome to Cowboys Digest everybody. I'm Chase Andrews, and I hope you're having a great day wherever you guys might be. Lots of stuff to get into. But before that, again, make sure you hit that subscribe button. It's 100% free to do so. And it really does help us out, shorts, live streams, and videos just like this. We're going to be live this Sunday for the Packers game, so subscribe today so you don't miss it. Let's get into the news and start with the injuries that are going to force the decision here. But there are two Cowboys that have now been called long shots for the upcoming game versus the Green Bay Packers. Those two names would be Kobe Durant and DeMarvion Overshown. I think this was expected, especially for Kobe Durant for Overshown. we're talking about now four full weeks going on five full weeks that he will have missed for the Dallas Cowboys which is frustrating to say the least especially when you think about the injury history that he has had he was able to get back to some sort of practice this week so that's I guess great but it doesn't really translate into him playing so Amir Speed and DeMarvion Overshown are both limited in practice after not participating yesterday it seems like Both of them will probably be limited today. JPJ, he should be good to go. So that's obviously great. But Durant and Overshown are huge pieces of these defense. And honestly, with the way that the backup's looking in linebacker and in the cornerback room, you really, really needed them to kind of get healthy. And unfortunately, that's not the case. Now, that being said, I still think the Cowboys are able to come back and win this game in Green Bay. It's a very big game. And we know the Packers and Cowboys games always tend to be instant classics. And so I'm going to trade yes on the Dallas Cowboys on Kalshi. $80 trade will get me $180.81. On Kalshi, you're trading directly against other users, not the house, like a traditional sports book. You're buying yes or no contracts on the outcome of events across sports, politics, or even the weather. Now, for example, I'm trading on the Cowboys. You can also trade on Dak Prescott to run a touchdown. You can trade on George Pickens to catch a touchdown. CeeDee Lamb to catch a touchdown. You can trade on a lot of different stuff. And if you are interested in trying out the fastest growing trade market all around in our presenting sponsor, Kalshi, use the link in the description or in the pinned comment of today's show and then when you use this code DIGEST NFL to sign up for an account new users who trade 25 we'll get an extra 55 immediately placed into your account that's where that 80 kind of comes from to make the trade so go check them out today we really appreciate Kalshi for sponsoring today's show let's look at Durant and Overshown durant is a guy who is somebody i really do trust in the secondary maybe even more than DaRon Bland which is kind of where I'm going with this but he is still only been able to play two games I understand that his injuries kind of started when the secondary really went downhill obviously with everybody kind of sitting out or not sitting out but getting injured I still think that it's more disheartening that DeMarvin Overshawn is still getting injured and I think in a lot of ways it's hard because this is a contract year for him and for the Cowboys they have to make a decision on whether or not he's worth an extension and right now it just seems like that's not the case and I do want to get to this comment from Viking last night. I don't think Overshawn can play a series without getting hurt. He has that injury-prone tag now. Hurry up and bring in a new top-notch veteran edge while there's still time. I agree. I think at this point that the injury tag is on Overshown. It is a problem, and I don't want to say it's his fault, but it definitely is starting to be something that you have to be concerned and looked at. So when you are weighing the risk here for DeMarvin Overshown, it's tough because you want him healthy for the back half of the season. That's the big thing, and that's why they're not rushing him back into anything. In fact, we got here from the whole thing with Overshawn and why they're not rushing him back, saying, quote, we're not going to rush him back. He's working tremendously hard to come back. No setbacks. The hamstring injuries are different. They are tricky. He's a powerful, athletic, muscular guy. At the end of the day, you've got to feel right to go run and hit the way like he likes to run and hit. The thing is, he hasn't felt like he has been able to feel that way in years, maybe even since they drafted him so you know it's hard and DeMarvin Overshown said he's hopeful he can return with the Packers obviously we know now that he's you know very much a long shot he discussed Dallas's defense heart-to-heart meeting on monday morning if you don't know the cowboys had a full players only meeting on monday with the defense to try and fix stuff and um you know i think that Overshown has a big piece of this defense they're missing and i think he was part of that meeting and now you still don't get him back so how exactly does it look from a perspective of what you're missing well we know that last year in the last five games when he was healthy look really solid four and a half tackles from his normal in the front of one game he had before that but I just want to sit here and and think about how exactly the Cowboys can kind of go about this defensive setup knowing you're not going to have DeMarvin Bush and maybe more even importantly knowing you're not going to have Kobe Durant because that is going to be again a problem when Deron Bland cannot cover anything right now. There's just, he's struggling as much. And you do have Joey Porter Jr., and that's great. And hopefully he'll be healthy this week. It looks like he's been good to go since that illness took him out of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game a week and a day ago. But we got this from Christian Barker to the JPJ. His workload should be highly increased this week on Sunday night against the Packers. And it feels really good about where he is at. Durant is still rehabilitating. Looks like he should be back hopefully soon. But Elijah Clark, Durant, and P.J. Locke worked with the rehab group, so still kind of getting back there. And the cornerback room is a frustrating place because when you look at it, you think you should have the confidence. You have Joey Porter Jr. You have a guy who's getting paid millions and millions of dollars in DaRon Bland, and you have one of the best rookies in this year's class in Caleb Downs. And yet I don't because DaRon Bland has shown nothing that he is deserving of the millions and millions of dollars that he has gotten. We have not seen enough of JPJ yet because he's been sick, and I'm not trying to blame that on him, but it's tough. And then for Caleb Downs, as much as I like him at Nickelback and he's playing great, I see him as a better safety. And so it's hard for me to continue to look at this and know that you are playing DaRon Bland, snap in and snap out, and he has looked bad. And against the rookie quarterback last week, it was the breaking point for me. Now, am I saying that you should cut DaRon Bland? No, no, absolutely not. But what I can say is that I think it's definitely going to start to become a question if he can't perform against the Green Bay Packers. And guess what? Last week, the Packers and Jordan Love went out there and they threw for a multitude of yards and absolutely hit on deep routes with Christian Watson. And not to mention Matthew Golden seems like he's finally going to be in a good spot. So it's just really tough when you think about it. And they have to be in a better spot. They have to be. And this thing is honestly, Kobe Durant has been really, really good against the Packers in his past. And now you got to figure out how to do it. But right now it's about letting Jay Shawn Barham continue to step up in the middle linebacker room alongside D Winters and Shamar James. And then for the cornerback room, Like, DaRon has to play better. Simple as that. Has to play better. And it's just not been great for him. And one thing I do want to talk about is going to be the challenges with the Packers and kind of going about with that. We do know that Malachi Lawrence is going to get a higher repertoire this week. We also know that Ja'Sean Barham is potentially playing in the edge rushing room this week. He's taking some snaps over there. So we're going to have Malachi in a different place. He's going to be in a much better to succeed area in that linebacker room. And you are still very much in this NFC East. You have to go out there and get a win, though. I don't want to say this is a must win because it's not, and you're in a good spot, even though the struggles you've had this season. But just for the sanity of the team, I feel like after a players-only meeting, after what has transpired this week with the discussion around Christian Parker, with the hiring of Mike Pettine as a defensive analyst who was a head coach not a couple years ago, a guy who has led a number one defense, you know a decade or so ago he is a good coach but you have to show it here and it's going to be tough when you are facing a Packers team that again last week lit up the scoreboard against the Bears and torched their corners with a bunch of deep passes that's the problem I have but I do think that the Cowboys can do it so get in the comment section and let us know can Dallas beat Green Bay without both of their defenders in DeMarvion Overshown and Kobe Durant A with a yes for the next man up mentality, or B, saying no, too many injuries also, so Y for yes, N for no. Let me know down in the comments section. But I still think they can win. I don't want to take away from what this team can do without these guys. They've been able to win without them in this season. But I cannot express how this is a very, very big game for DeRon Bland, because if it goes as poorly as it did against the Buccaneers, I'm going to be out on him. And in that case scenario, that's fine, because you have Kobe Durant, because you have Caleb Downs, because you have Joey Porter Jr. now, and you're going to try and extend him and keep him around instead of having, you know, the one-hit wonder in Kobe Durant, or rather, excuse me, the one-hit wonder in DeRon Bland after the other one-hit wonder, Trevon Diggs. So, we'll see what happens. I still believe in this team. Let us know what you think down in the comment section, and we'll see you next time here on the show. Peace out.