IRVING, Texas – If the losses on the schedule aren't bad enough, the losses on the roster continue to mount.
The Cowboys played without four starters – DeMarcus Ware, DeMarco Murray, Miles Austin and J.J. Wilcox – in Sunday's loss to Detroit. In those 60 minutes of football, they might have lost another handful.
Chief among those is starting right guard Brian Waters, who suffered three injuries all on his own. Waters suffered a rib strain and a hyperextended knee in the first half against the Lions, but the serious issue was a triceps injury that occurred just a handful of plays into the second half.
"Brian hurt a rib early on in the ballgame," coach Jason Garrett said. "He hurt his knee as the game went on and also hurt his triceps later in the game and we're most concerned about the triceps. We'll get some final evaluations on the MRI in the next few hours and just see what his status is going forward."
Waters has appeared in seven of the Cowboys' eight games this year after signing a few days prior to the season opener. He has started five straight games, beginning with the team's Week 4 loss to San Diego.
"He's a guy that plays the game the right way," Garrett said. "He's physical, he's tough, he knows what to do, he plays with a little bit of an edge to him, and that's a positive thing. I've talked to our team about it -- it's contiguous."
If Waters is unavailable – in either the short term or long term – Garrett said the team will turn to Mackenzy Bernadeau. Bernadeau was the starter at right guard through the first three weeks of the season, and he platooned with Waters until the veteran was up to full-game shape. [embedded_ad]
"Mackenzy will step in there and go, and he did a good job with the reps he got yesterday in the ballgame," Garrett said. "Hopefully he's been positively influenced by watching Brian play and just learn from that experience as well."
The injury woes don't stop there, as two more members of the starting secondary – Morris Claiborne and Barry Church – came out of the Detroit game with hamstring injuries.
"Mo hurt his hamstring. He got an MRI, so we'll see what that says and we'll just see what his availability is going forward this week and over the next few days," Garrett said.
He added that Church is day-to-day, as well.
Lest that injury report become too overwhelming, Garrett's tone on some of his other injuries was slightly more encouraging. Reports coming out of Detroit during the weekend were that Murray could have played against the Lions, but Garrett said it was a mutual decision to rest the starting running back.
"He worked hard the last week to get himself back. He tried to practice Wednesday and Thursday. He practiced most rigorously on Friday. At the end of that practice, we just decided he wasn't quite right," Garrett said. "Our experience has been, rather than force a guy to come back and play before he is ready, particularly at that position, it's better to wait."
The prognosis was similar for Ware and Austin – optimistic without too many details provided. Garrett said Austin ran to test out his recovering hamstring on Monday.
"He had a good run today, so we'll see what he's able to do tomorrow and what his practice status is for the rest of the week," he said.
He added that he hopes to see Ware's availability increase as the week continues.
IRVING, Texas – If the losses on the schedule aren't bad enough, the losses on the roster continue to mount.
The Cowboys played without four starters – DeMarcus Ware, DeMarco Murray, Miles Austin and J.J. Wilcox – in Sunday's loss to Detroit. In those 60 minutes of football, they might have lost another handful.
Chief among those is starting right guard Brian Waters, who suffered three injuries all on his own. Waters suffered a rib strain and a hyperextended knee in the first half against the Lions, but the serious issue was a triceps injury that occurred just a handful of plays into the second half.
"Brian hurt a rib early on in the ballgame," coach Jason Garrett said. "He hurt his knee as the game went on and also hurt his triceps later in the game and we're most concerned about the triceps. We'll get some final evaluations on the MRI in the next few hours and just see what his status is going forward."
Waters has appeared in seven of the Cowboys' eight games this year after signing a few days prior to the season opener. He has started five straight games, beginning with the team's Week 4 loss to San Diego.
"He's a guy that plays the game the right way," Garrett said. "He's physical, he's tough, he knows what to do, he plays with a little bit of an edge to him, and that's a positive thing. I've talked to our team about it -- it's contiguous."
If Waters is unavailable – in either the short term or long term – Garrett said the team will turn to Mackenzy Bernadeau. Bernadeau was the starter at right guard through the first three weeks of the season, and he platooned with Waters until the veteran was up to full-game shape. [embedded_ad]
"Mackenzy will step in there and go, and he did a good job with the reps he got yesterday in the ballgame," Garrett said. "Hopefully he's been positively influenced by watching Brian play and just learn from that experience as well."
The injury woes don't stop there, as two more members of the starting secondary – Morris Claiborne and Barry Church – came out of the Detroit game with hamstring injuries.
"Mo hurt his hamstring. He got an MRI, so we'll see what that says and we'll just see what his availability is going forward this week and over the next few days," Garrett said.
He added that Church is day-to-day, as well.
Lest that injury report become too overwhelming, Garrett's tone on some of his other injuries was slightly more encouraging. Reports coming out of Detroit during the weekend were that Murray could have played against the Lions, but Garrett said it was a mutual decision to rest the starting running back.
"He worked hard the last week to get himself back. He tried to practice Wednesday and Thursday. He practiced most rigorously on Friday. At the end of that practice, we just decided he wasn't quite right," Garrett said. "Our experience has been, rather than force a guy to come back and play before he is ready, particularly at that position, it's better to wait."
The prognosis was similar for Ware and Austin – optimistic without too many details provided. Garrett said Austin ran to test out his recovering hamstring on Monday.
"He had a good run today, so we'll see what he's able to do tomorrow and what his practice status is for the rest of the week," he said.
He added that he hopes to see Ware's availability increase as the week continues.
