Cowboys COVID-19: Dan Quinn, Carlos Watkins sent home from Saturday's game

The Dallas Cowboys COVID-19 saga continued when Dann Quinn and Carlos Watkins were sudden late scratches before Saturday night’s preseason game against the Texans.

There was no indication either would miss the critical contest — as Quinn continues to scout and develop defensive talent and Watkins puts more film together with the season looming.

From the #Cowboys on DC Dan Quinn and DT Carlos Watkins not participating tonight because of COVID-19 protocols. pic.twitter.com/jG5Np3rIO2

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 22, 2021

According to the Cowboys, both men left AT&T Stadium earlier Saturday out of an abundance of caution under the guidelines of the NFL’s COVID-related protocols, the Cowboys announced.

Quinn and Watkins will be reevaluated by the Cowboys’ medical staff tomorrow.

To date, the vaccination rate for the Cowboys’ player roster is 93%, while 100% of the team’s football staff is fully vaccinated.

Watkins, signed in the offseason after four years with the Texans, has mostly been in the starting lineup on the Dallas defense in training camp.

With Quinn not present at Saturday’s game, defensive passing game coordinator/secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr. will likely have more in-game responsibilities against Houston.

Will Cowboys’ issues effect season?

It was one month ago to the day. Jerry Jones addressed the club’s vaccination status, saying he’s very comfortable with his player’s vaccination rate at this point. Jones noted that out of 90 players at camp, five are not currently on a path to full vaccination.

“Let me say this regarding our team and its vaccines,” Jones told NFL.com. Everybody here, including you, everybody here in what we call Tier 1, 2 or 3, is vaccinated for the most part, if you’ll give me 99 percent as for the most part, from that standpoint. There could be one or two that aren’t. From the standpoint of the players, we have what I call ‘in the pipeline’ — that’s committed but at some various stage of whether they need two vaccine shots and they have one or whether they’re waiting a period of time so that they can have their vaccine and go through the protocol. We have, out of our 90 players here, we have a handful that, in my mind, have still to commit to this. A handful — and a hand is five. Several, in my mind, in that finger of five, are on their way to potentially having their vaccine. So, that’s where we are relative to the league at some 77 percent. We’re very satisfied at where the Dallas Cowboys are as far as looking at our competition in the next few weeks ahead.

It’s not fair to speculate on tonight’s circumstances, this is the type of thing that should cause concern for Cowboys fans and NFL fans as a collective.

Cowboys COVID-19 moving forward

The team announced both will not participate “out of an abundance of caution under the guidelines of the NFL’s COVID-related protocols.”

The Cowboys’ medical staff will reevaluate Quinn and Watkins on Sunday.

Secondary coach/defensive pass game coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. is calling plays in Quinn’s place.

The Cowboys also announced the vaccination rate for their player roster is 93 percent, while 100 percent of the team’s football staff is fully vaccinated