Cowboys-Lions Initial Injury Report: Practice window opens for $12M defender – K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire

More reinforcements are coming.

This year, the Cowboys travel to the other annual Turkey Day home team, the Detroit Lions. The Lions generally have a tough offense to corral, so Sunday’s initial injury report comes with a lot of attention on it, as the two sides have intriguing situations to monitor. The Lions lost top wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown in their Thanksgiving loss to the Green Bay Packers. The Cowboys have been playing without starting corner Trevon Diggs for over a month.

On Sunday, the Cowboys activated Diggs’ 21-day practice window, a clear indication he is soon to return to the field.

Diggs is making $9.5 million in cash this season with a cap hit of just over $12 million. He’s appeared in just 19 games since signing a $97 million extension prior to the 2023 season.

The Cowboys have battled injuries at corner all season. Just this past week, they played without second-year man Caelen Carson (hamstring) while DaRon Bland (foot) missed several snaps against the Chiefs though he did return. A Diggs addition to the 53-man roster would help fortify depth as rookie Shavon Revel played 100% of the snaps last week in just his third career game.

Cowboys pessimistic about starting OT availability vs Lions in Week 14 – Josh Sanchez, Sports Illustrated

On the opposite end of the spectrum, it’s not looking good for Tyler Guyton.

When the team takes the field, it will be one week since Dallas’ Thanksgiving win over the Kansas City Chiefs to extend their winning streak to three games.

Unfortunately, the week break between games does not seem like it will be enough for starting left tackle Tyler Guyton, who suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 12. Guyton missed the win over the Chiefs and is once again expected to remain sidelined another week.

According to longtime Cowboys insider Ed Werder, “Brian Schottenheimer didn’t seem optimistic about Tyler Guyton playing.”

It is Guyton’s second injury of the season. During training camp, the Cowboys suffered another injury scare when Guyton went down with a bone fracture in his right knee. The injury forced Guyton out of action for the entire preseason.

The good news, however, is that Nate Thomas impressed in relief duties in Week 13. Schottenheimer praised the offensive tackle for his performance. This season, Thomas has appeared in 12 games, with two starts.

There are a lot of storylines heading into next Thursday.

St. Brown injury? – Pro Bowl receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown suffered an ankle injury against the Packers and didn’t return. The initial reports were that he could be out for the season but now it appears he’s more “week-to-week.” Head coach Dan Campbell called it “good news” that St. Brown wouldn’t be out long-term but also said he could still miss “a week or two, maybe, if we’re lucky.” According to his coach, it appears the receiver would be a longshot to play against Dallas in just seven days.

Ragnow & O-line issues – The Lions haven’t gotten much good news regarding the offensive line in a while. The latest setback was that recently-retired center Frank Ragnow would be able to return to the team but he couldn’t pass his physical with a hamstring injury. The Lions announced Ragnow would not be joining the team in 2025 after all. The Lions were missing two starters on the O-line against Green Bay and the other three starters were on the injury report as well.

Still a long road to go to make the playoffs, but Edelman views the Cowboys as a contender.

The Cowboys have already completed their Week 13 stretch with a Thanksgiving victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, but they were still the focus of conversations over the weekend. Speaking on FOX NFL Sunday, Edelman broke down exactly why Dallas has become so dangerous.

He said, “They have a team that can compete. They have a completely different defense than they started the year with. Overshown, sideline to sideline, is terrifying. Logan Wilson is creating a role. Quinnen Williams is stopping the run. On offense, CeeDee Lamb and Pickens, they’re a problem.”

He even went on to give the Cowboys a lofty comparison to the Giants teams that won two Super Bowls against him over a decade ago. He said, “They look like a team that’s trending up, and they give me a little reminder. They remind me of those old Giants teams that would get hot in the back of the season and do damage in the playoffs.”

It’s wonderful to see Dak getting the recognition he deserves.

A lot of fans may not remember, but Steve Young never had the biggest arm, he didn’t throw 70-yard bombs, and he didn’t overpower defenses, he dissected them.

Young became an NFL legend because he had a formula to win games, elite accuracy, efficient decision-making, and just enough mobility to keep defenses honest.

Those three traits are the same traits we see when Dak Prescott is playing his best football.

Fans, analysts, and really anyone who watches football knows the quarterback rating is a pretty good barometer of a quarterback is doing well.

When we look at the career quarterback rating of Dak Prescott up against Steve Young, we get a match.

Steve Young had a career quarterback rating of 96.8 in his 15-year career. Dak Prescott is currently sitting at a quarterback rating of 98.6.

When we break it down further:

Steve Young had 33,124 passing yards, an 8.0 yard average, 232 touchdowns, and 107 interceptions.

Dak Prescott has 34,698 passing yards, a 7.6 yard average, 238 touchdowns, and 90 interceptions.

Very similar to this point, but Prescott at this point is in year ten, while Young retired after fifteen years.