Dallas Cowboys vs. Detroit Lions: Tuesday injury report
The Dallas Cowboys (10-5) have released their Tuesday injury report ahead of the Week 17 home contest against the Detroit Lions (11-4) this Saturday.
The injury report is long, though just two players were listed as non-participants: defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins and offensive tackle Tyron Smith. Hankins has missed the last two games with an ankle injury while Smith was sidelined for this past Sunday’s 22-20 Week 16 defeat to the Miami Dolphins (11-4) with a back injury. Head coach Mike McCarthy said Tuesday that both are getting better and have a chance to play against Detroit.
With Smith unavailable against the Dolphins, the Cowboys’ offensive line gave up four sacks on quarterback Dak Prescott, though they lost just a combined 11 yards. It was the fourth game of the year in which the offensive line allowed four or more sacks. They’ve gone 2-2 when giving up four or more sacks this season.
Smith, now in his 12th season, missed two games (Weeks 3 and 4) with a minor knee injury, then another (Week 8) with a neck stinger. The veteran has been practicing on a “Hall of Fame” schedule, as McCarthy calls it. He practices very little during the week in order to be fresh for gamedays.
Cowboys Tuesday injury report
WR Brandin Cooks (NIR/Rest) — Limited
RB Rico Dowdle (Ankle) — Limited
DE Viliami Fehoko (Knee) — Full
CB Stephon Gilmore (NIR/Rest) — Limited
DT Johnathan Hankins (Knee/Ankle) — DNP
S Malik Hooker (Ankle) — Limited
DE DeMarcus Lawrence (NIR/Rest) — Limited
CB Jourdan Lewis (NIR/Rest) — Limited
RB Hunter Luepke (Thigh) — Limited
OG Zack Martin (NIR/Rest) — Limited
OT Tyron Smith (Back) — DNP
OT Matt Waletzko (Shoulder) — Full
The Cowboys are looking to rebound from what Prescott described as a “frustrating” loss, their second in a row.
“It’s frustrating that [we had a] dead spot in the middle of the game for the offense after the first two drives, when we couldn’t get anything going again,” Prescott said after the game. “We come back in the second half and we’re a little dry there [as well]. We finally got rolling and got some points on the board and took the lead, and our defense did a hell of a job.
“This is one that’s on everybody and it sucks, but we definitely took a step over last week’s game in getting some points. We played a hell of a team here on the road, and we’ll have to build off of it. We’ll have to use the good and make sure we get better from the things that weren’t up to standard.”