In trying to see if Miles Austin will finally return to practice, and monitoring the status of Mike Jenkins, who has missed a month but expected to play Sunday, and then trying to figure out what exactly is wrong with fullback Tony Fiammetta's illness situation, it seems one injury has fallen through the cracks a bit.
Defensive tackle Josh Brent has missed three practices this week with a knee injury that forced him out of the game last Thursday against the Dolphins. Brent is really the only backup to starter Jay Ratliff, and the case could be made that he's the only traditional nose-tackle-type on the team at all.
Without him, the Cowboys will lose some beef up the middle, likely having to play Sean Lissemore inside, and possibly rotating defensive end such as Marcus Spears and Kenyon Coleman in the middle.
If you remember, the Cowboys tried to play without Brent once before, leaving him inactive for the Eagles game. Coincidence or not, Philadelphia's LeSean McCoy went for a career night, rushing for 185 yards and the Eagles racked up 239 rushing yards and 495 yards of total offense.
Obviously, they had more problems than not having Brent in the middle. But he's a hole-plugging force that this team just doesn't have. And Arizona's Beanie Wells is coming off a 228-yard rushing game against the Rams, the second-highest single-game performance by an NFL running back this year, only behind DeMarco Murray's 253-yard game against the Rams.
Wells is a big back with eight rushing touchdowns, tied for fourth in the NFL. He's obviously good around the goal line, a spot where Brent is often used.
Maybe we're focusing on other injuries, but this team will likely miss Brent if he can't go Sunday.
