Cowboys start practice window for rookie defensive tackle Junior Fehoko

The Dallas Cowboys began the 21-day practice window for rookie defensive tackle Viliami “Junior” Fehoko this week. The fourth-round draft pick out of San Jose State went on the Injured Reserve with a knee injury in mid-November. After four weeks off, he can now practice with the rest of the team.

Moving Fehoko to IR allowed the Cowboys to elevate linebacker Rashaan Evans to the active roster after they exhausted their practice squad elevations for him due to other injuries at the position, including Leighton Vander Esch.

Since joining the Cowboys in the 2023 NFL Draft, Fehoko has yet to appear in a game. Now that his practice window is open, the team has 21 days to activate him or put him back on IR for the remainder of the season. If the team activates him in the next few weeks, he could potentially contribute to the team’s run into the postseason.

In his final collegiate season at San Jose State, Fehoko posted a career-high of 69 tackles with nine sacks. Over five seasons, he had 191 tackles, 23 sacks and five tackles for loss for the Spartans.

Johnathan Hankins ‘hard-pressed’ to play for Cowboys vs Bills

Head coach Mike McCarthy revealed on Wednesday that defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, who suffered an ankle sprain against the Eagles, is “hard-pressed” to play this weekend against the 7-6 Bills in Buffalo.

“Johnathan will be hard-pressed to go this week,” McCarthy shared, via DallasCowboys.com.

Hankins joined Dallas last October in a trade with Las Vegas that sent a Cowboys’ 2023 sixth-round pick to the Raiders, and a 2024 seventh-round pick back to Dallas. The veteran out of Ohio State came in to bolster the Cowboys’ already stout defensive line group.

He played in several games, then tore a pectoral muscle, but made his return in time for the playoffs. He finished the year with five postseason tackles, including a sack and two tackles for loss, as well as 10 tackles in five regular season games. After the end of the playoff run, Dallas signed the tackle to a new one-year deal for $1.5 million.

So far this season, Hankins, now in his 11th season, has 26 tackles with three sacks. The last time he had three sacks in a single season was in 2016 for the Giants.