Cowboys get GOOD and BAD news... MAJOR Move incoming | Cowboys News

The Dallas Cowboys just got good news and bad news in the same report. The good news, Caleb Downs and P.J. Locke, they have no game status. That means both are good to go against the Colts this Sunday. However, there's some bad news attached to it with a couple of players who are questionable and the head coach only says he's hopeful that George Pickens or Joey Porter Jr. will play. And there's a bigger move that could come as soon as tomorrow involving a rookie first round pick. Let's start with the good news because the defense really needed what it was. Both Downs and Locke were in concussion protocol after the Arizona game. Downs got hurt in the fourth quarter, and Locke shortly after there. Now, both have cleared with no game status on Friday's report, so that is a huge, huge boost to a defense that is, well, struggling. It matters hugely because Downs leads this team with 52 tackles this season. Now, Locke has just 11, but that's because he's been injured for a majority of this season already. Now, to see why it matters, we've got to go back to the Arizona game and how the Cowboys scored 13 points in the fourth quarter just to tie it at 30-30 and then proceeded to lose 33-30 in overtime when Arizona kicked that field goal. Of course, that loss dropped them to 3-5, and it came five days after their biggest win of the season, 38-21 in Philadelphia. So this is a team that can score. The question all year has been whether it can get a snap at the end of the game. And the guy who makes the calls in the secondary, the guy who leads the team in tackles, is the guy who left the game with a concussion, and of course, may have been the reason that Arizona was able to come away with the win. A defense that just allowed 33 points and a loss to Arizona gets its leading tackler back, hopefully for the entire game this Sunday. But unfortunately, that's about where the good news stops. Joey Porter Jr. has an ankle injury and was limited on Thursday. George Pickens has a hamstring injury, and both are now questionable heading into Sunday's game versus the Colts. Schottenheimer said they were, quote, a little bit limited, but hopeful they can play Sunday in Indianapolis. Now, Porter hurt that ankle against Arizona. Schottenheimer said after the game, quote, he's trying to battle through it and we're hopeful. Now, he was a full participant on Wednesday and then limited on Thursday, which, of course, is the wrong direction for an ankle injury that's been nagging him for pretty much the entire season. This is the quarterback who the Cowboys sent a 2027 6th and a 2028 2nd to Pittsburgh for, so they need him on the field against any offense that wants to throw. Now, hopeful is not a designation, and it's not a promise. It's the same word you use about a flight that might get canceled. Now, quick question before we go any further. Let me know in the comments section who Dallas will miss most Sunday if they're not out there, Pickens or Porter. Let me know in the comments section who's more important. And, of course, let's keep going. And Pickens is the one the offense can least afford to lose. Now, he has 39 catches for 533 yards this season, second on the team behind CeeDee Lamb's 709. And, of course, they want to get him more targets as we go on. And, of course, he's getting hotter alongside it. Over these last five games, he's averaging 76.6 receiving yards a game against 50 before that. And that's not even the whole story. All week, the question has been, why isn't he getting more of the ball? Which is what we just talked about. Well, Jerry Jones addressed this on Tuesday, saying, quote, he needs the ball coming his way more. And Schottenheimer's answer was that his snaps were limited by injuries. Now, he also said taking him off the field on purpose would be poor coaching by me. So it's the injury, not the game plan. However, the snap total last week just doesn't really make a lot of sense. But that makes this all worse. The one thing that was holding him back is another thing that might keep him out this weekend. So if he's limited or out, who's going to get the targets? Well, look for a big game from CeeDee Lamb. And these aren't the only names. Seven Cowboys are listed as questionable on this report. DeMarvion Overshawn is on it with a hamstring and back issue. Schottenheimer said they needed to, quote, get him out there today and see how he does. Now, he has 20 tackles this season, is a catalyst on the defense, and has missed some games earlier this season already. Jake Ferguson hurt his ankle against Arizona, too, and so did Porter and Lawrence. That's three players from one game with ankle injuries. Dee Winters, Tyler Smith, and Jake Schoonmaker were all limited earlier in the week, and Winters was back to a full participant by Thursday. And one thing to remember, safety Jalen Thompson, his practice window still hasn't opened yet, and so we can't really say that there's going to be some extra depth in the secondary, so they need to have PJ and Caleb out there, which is where the good news is kind of a big point. But none of this matters as much what the Cowboys decide to do about their rookie edge rusher. But quickly, let's go back to George Pickens real quick because whether he's out there or not, a lot of targets are going to go to CeeDee Lamb. And that's exactly where I'm looking on Kalshi. The Cowboys right now are at 69% to win in Indianapolis on Sunday. On Kalshi, you're trading directly against other users, not the house like a traditional sports book. You're buying yes or no contracts and the outcome of events across sports, politics, or even the weather. Remember, I said CeeDee Lamb. Well, guess what? I've got him to score one or more touchdowns on Sunday, and an $8 trade pays out at $148.82. If you're interested in trying out Kalshi, use the link in the description or in the pinned comment. When new users sign up with the code DIGESTNFL and trade $25, you'll get an extra $55 instantly. Thank you to Kalshi for sponsoring today's video. Now the move, of course, that could come tomorrow. Rookie edge rusher Malachi Lawrence is an injured reserve candidate, and he could be moved as soon as tomorrow. He was the 23rd overall pick, and he hurt his ankle against Arizona. And after that game, Schottenheimer said, quote, could be a few weeks. Now here's the catch. A player placed on IR has to miss at least four games before he can return. So if that does happen tomorrow, it would put him out not just for the Colts game, but for the 49ers, Titans, and Eagles to follow. And the Cowboys also would have an open roster spot they would need to fill. This season, he's had 13 tackles and one sack through eight games. So it's not a huge loss that sinks the season, but he played 38 snaps with four pressures against Arizona right before he got hurt. Now, his pressure and production were already dipping. Over the last five games, he was only averaging .8 tackles a game. Before that, it was three tackles a game. Now, part of that is because they were moving him around and kind of playing him in different spots. But, you know, it still is a huge part. Now, to be fair to him, the stats always don't tell the story. Now, especially for an edge rusher, the pressures are what's something that matters more. And he had four of them in the one game right before he got hurt. Now, if he does go on injured reserve, the Cowboys can designate up to eight players to return this season. And once he's cleared the practice, he'll have 21 days to bring him back or he's done for the year. And again, this is a candidate, not a done deal just yet. And I'd expect the team to decide Saturday ahead of the game. But a rookie pass rusher on the shelf for a month and a pass rusher that's already thin, that's a real cost. But here's why I keep coming back to the defense. The Cowboys scored 30 or more points in five of their eight games, and yet they're still three and five. Just look at the losses. An eight-point loss to the Giants, a three-point loss to Baltimore, eight-point loss to Tampa, ten-point loss to Green Bay, a three-point loss in overtime to Arizona, and a lot of those had some game-winning drives in which the defense just couldn't get off the field. In three of those games, the Cowboys allowed 30 or more points against Baltimore, Houston, and Arizona. They went one and two in them. For the season, the defense is giving up 26.6 points a game, which is 213 points in just eight games. So it's not an offense problem. It's a problem of getting a snap when you need it, and the guys who help do that are the one on this report. Downs and Locke at safety, Porter at corner, Overshawn at linebacker, and Lawrence at the pass rusher. Every one of them has been on the injury report this week or last, and the unit has not had a full week together in a while at this point. Which is the real story of this report. It's not just who plays on Sunday. It's whether this defense has the people to hold the lead. So what does this mean against the Colts? Well, on paper, not much should stop the Cowboys from winning this game. They're six-point favorites in Indianapolis with a 51.5-point total. And the Colts, they're just 2-6 and selling off every piece they possibly can. The Colts, by the way, have lost four straight, including recently a 42-7 loss at Jacksonville. Dallas' offense, they score nearly 30 points a game, but they also allow at 26.6. So, Indianapolis scoring at 20.1 and allowing 27.8 should be a boost for the Cowboys. Now, this offense, that'll be the fine part. The real question is whether this defense can finally stop somebody, especially a team that's not really doing well on offense. Which is why Downs and Locke being cleared is the biggest part of the report, especially when Caleb Downs' brother is on the other side of the field in Josh Downs. But here's the full picture. The brain of this defense is back. The offense's second option is a game-time decision, and the pass rush is probably about to lose a rookie. The Cowboys are 3-5. They're favored by 6 in Indianapolis against the Colts team. That's lost four straight. That's still a game where they should win, but whether Pickens plays probably decides how easily they win. Watch the report again on Sunday. We'll see the actives and inactives, and of course we'll see if Lawrence is still on this roster if he gets placed on IR for Dallas. If Pickens ends up sitting, CeeDee Lamb becomes the whole passing game. And that's exactly why I'm looking for him on Kalshi. Oh, and one more question before we let you go. Who's going to be the biggest loss we've had this season? And one more question before we go. Let me know in the comment section, who do you have in this game? Colts or Cowboys? Do you think the Cowboys can overcome injuries? Let me know in the comment section. And for now, we'll say, peace out.