IRVING, TEXAS - The Cowboys left training camp in Oxnard, Calif. a relatively healthy team, having really lost only the starting services of Terence Newman early in camp.
But within the last 1½ weeks, the injuries are starting to pile up, incurring two more here Friday night in the 23-22 preseason victory over the Houston Texans. Starting guard Kyle Kosier and young wide receiver Isaiah Stanback both had MRI's scheduled for Saturday to further examine injuries they suffered.
Those two, coupled with nickel linebacker Kevin Burnett having his left knee scoped last Friday, wide receiver Miles Austin suffering a second-degree sprain of his MCL in his right knee last Saturday and then linebacker Anthony Spencer having his knee scoped this past Wednesday to remove a loose piece of bone, have the Cowboys a little perplexed now just one week away from the final roster cut to 53.
Stanback suffered a shoulder subluxation when he coughed up the ball on a kickoff to start the second half. After losing the ball, Stanback stretched out his left arm in an attempt to grab it back while diving on the ground. He landed on the turf with his arm stretched out, injuring the same shoulder he hurt last year.
Team officials said Stanback, who went up the tunnel and into the locker room for the rest of the game, would receive an MRI on Saturday for further evaluation. Initial indications are the injury is not as serious as last year.
But even if the MRI reveals no severe damage, the team's medical staff says the second-year receiver still could be out for one to two weeks rehabbing since the shoulder slid out of the socket and back in on its own.
Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips said, "We'll have to see where he is," but knows this could cause somewhat of a problem at wide receiver if Stanback is seriously injured after also just losing Austin four to six weeks.
Stanback downplayed the injury, saying he could have continued playing if it had been a regular-season contest. He said the training staff made him leave the game.
"It's one of those things that happens," Stanback said. "It should be all right, though. It was a lot worse last year."
But possibly even more troubling is the sprained right foot left guard Kyle Kosier suffered, causing him to leave the locker room after the game wearing a stabilizing boot and with an appointment for an MRI. Kosier sprained the ligaments in his final series of the game, early in the fourth quarter when a Houston defensive player bull-rushed him.
The Cowboys trainers indicated even if the MRI does not reveal a torn ligament, which obviously would be a serious blow to the stability of the offensive line, Kosier likely at least sprained the ligaments badly enough to sideline him for a couple of weeks. Fourth-year lineman Joe Berger has been working behind Kosier this summer.
Seemingly the only other player shaken up for the Cowboys in the game was safety Pat Watkins, who suffered a shoulder stinger when he was blocked from behind covering a kick. But, he didn't miss any plays.
"It just sent a shock through me when it happened," Watkins said.
This is a bad time to have injuries piling up since the Cowboys must trim their 80-man roster to 75 by 3 p.m. (CDT) Tuesday and then to the final 53 by 3 p.m. next Saturday, Aug. 30.
Home | Email | Print | Register for New Alerts | RSS
