IRVING, Texas - The Cowboys currently have 77 players on their roster. Wednesday morning, 11 of those players did not practice.
Two of those players have already been pronounced likely out for the year. Rookie tackle Robert Brewster tore a pectoral muscle before camp, and rookie outside linebacker Brandon Williams tore his ACL in the team's preseason game against the Titans.
Four more of those players sustained injuries before or during the Titans game that will prevent their participation in Saturday's home game against the San Francisco 49ers. Outside linebacker Justin Rogers and rookie quarterback Stephen McGee both sustained knee injuries against the Titans and continued working with trainers Tuesday morning, Rogers with tendinitis and McGee with a sprained MCL.
Defensive end Marcus Dixon and fullback Deon Anderson are also ruled out for Saturday, Dixon still nursing a groin injury and Anderson recovering from a knee scope.
The remaining five players - linebackers Bobby Carpenter and Stephen Hodge, wide receiver Sam Hurd and tight end Martellus Bennett - are all their own individual degrees of toss-ups. Tight end Rodney Hannah also didn't practice.
Hodge is probably the least likely to play after continuing a slow recovery from an off-season knee scope. He played against the Titans, but has not practiced since.
The rookie linebacker's slow recovery has caused head coach Wade Phillips to change his expectations for his game participation. Initially Phillips thought Hodge would be ready, but now he's not so sure.
"He's had some fluid on his knee throughout [camp]," Phillips said. "It's something that they drained his knee, and they're hoping that he gets a little more rest and doesn't have to keep doing that."
Phillips is a little more optimistic about Hurd, who missed his second straight day of practice with a thigh bruise. Holding him out was more precautionary than anything else, Phillips said, although he's not going to play him in the game unless he's completely healthy.
"We let it linger if we keep putting him back in before he's 100 percent," Phillips said. "We want to get him to 100 percent, and once he's there, he'll play or practice."
Bennett and Carpenter's absence has less to do with muscles and bones and more to do with their immune systems. Bennett has been fighting a stomach bug for the past few days, although he was able to hang around the locker room and the practice facility.
Carpenter didn't practice because one of his eyes was swollen completely shut by a poison ivy infection. Phillips said the swelling went down enough that the fourth-year linebacker could see in meetings, and doesn't expect his game status to be in jeopardy. How Carpenter got poison ivy, though, is beyond his knowledge.
"I don't think he was out hunting or anything," Phillips said.
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