For Martellus Bennett, a high ankle sprain at anytime would be inconvenient, and the same is true for the Cowboys as a whole. They'd rather have their No. 2 tight end healthy.
But his injury does come at a more difficult time now because it means the team will have to go longer at tight end or fullback to get through the few weeks he'll be out. In turn, the Cowboys will have to run short at another position.
While fourth tight end Martin Rucker had done some good things in the preseason games, he was probably on the outside looking in until Bennett was injured. Now he's got a good chance to stick around, as might Jason Pociask, who converted from tight end to fullback during training camp. He would be able to take John Phillips' H-back role, with Phillips sliding up to fill in for Bennett.
The Cowboys also have Chris Gronkowski, rookie seventh-rounder Shaun Chapas and linebacker convert Isaiah Greenhouse in the discussion at fullback.
Bennett won't be out deep into the season, and the Cowboys will count him on the 53-man roster. At this point, Bennett's is the only injury to a regular contributor that is expected to linger into the season. Both Marcus Spears and Terence Newman say they will be back in time for Week 1 against the New York Jets.
The team has to trim two players today to get down to an 80-man roster, and must cut to 53 on Saturday.
