FRISCO, Texas – On Tuesday, Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer announced that rookie OLB Malachi Lawrence suffered an ankle injury against the Cardinals and could miss multiple weeks.
"Malachi has [an injury] that might be a little bit longer…" Schottenheimer said.
"Looks like it could be a few weeks. So just keep doing some more testing, see how he moves around, but a little different than the other guys."
The other guys Schottenheimer mentioned are TE Jake Ferguson and CB Joey Porter Jr., who also dealt with ankle injuries on Sunday.
Lawrence, the Cowboys' 23rd overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft, played 38 snaps in Sunday's 33-30 overtime loss to Arizona, recording four quarterback pressures.
Eight games into his rookie year, Lawrence has recorded 13 tackles, three quarterback hits and a sack. In the last three games, Lawrence took over one of the starting jobs at outside linebacker for the Cowboys defense.
Finding consistency in the pass rush has been something that Schottenheimer and the Cowboys have wanted to see throughout the course of the season. Their showing against the Cardinals was better with five team sacks, but there is still plenty to fix.
"We got some really good pressure yesterday on the quarterback," Schottenheimer said. "Thought Quinnen Williams played outstanding. Von [Miller] got a sack, there was some really good things to look at. But you don't look at this thing in just one game or one phase, you look at it in a lot of smaller particles if you will. And you have to break it down And if you don't, then it's not going to be clear, and it's going to be hard to find. So that's what we're doing."
With Lawrence set to miss time, the Cowboys' OLB room contains Rashan Gary, Donovan Ezeiruaku, James Houston, Von Miller and Tyrus Wheat on the active roster. Dallas also has Isaiah Land on the practice squad.
