Mike McCarthy reacts to DeMarvion Overshown injury

Dallas Cowboys rookie linebacker DeMarvion Overshown will miss the entirety of the 2023 season after suffering a torn ACL in Saturday’s 22-14 preseason defeat to the Seattle Seahawks.

It’s a tough break for the 2023 third-round selection out of Texas, whom head coach Mike McCarthy called the “star” of the rookie class up to the injury.

“He has been frankly, you could make the argument, the star of the rookie class,” McCarthy said Monday, per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. “He stood up the first time we got in the meeting room and the walkthrough with his command. …He was just excelling at every opportunity.”

The injury occurred with just under eight minutes remaining in the first quarter, when Overshown made a tackle on Seahawks rookie tailback Zach Charbonnet. Overshown appeared to be fine initially, before grabbing his left knee in pain. He was able to walk off the field on his own power, eventually being carted off to the locker room.

DeMarvion Overshown looked to be fine right after making this tackle but then he grabbed his left knee pic.twitter.com/DBqta2gc2e

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 20, 2023

“You just say your prayers and hopefully the imaging points in the right direction. He’s had an incredible camp,” McCarthy said, via Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “We talked about him seems like almost ever other day. I just hope he’s okay.”

Overshown, who grew up just east of Dallas in Arp, Texas, was one of the standouts in the Cowboys’ preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars last Saturday. He led the team huddle after warmups and recorded six combined tackles at halftime to pace all Dallas defenders.

Cowboys lose key piece of 2023 defense in DeMarvion Overshown

McCarthy said the team had big plans for Overshown in his rookie season, given the promise he’s shown throughout training camp and the preseason.

“Absolutely. He was climbing. He was climbing the charts,” McCarthy said. “… Showed up right away in the offseason program, just his ability to fly around. Really has excellent command. So just hopeful. See how tomorrow goes.”

Steve Sarkisian, Overshown’s head coach at Texas from 2021-22, said he reached out to him, saying he’s in “really good spirits.”

“I reached out to him yesterday, and he responded right back,” Sarkisian said Monday, via Longhorns Wire. “It’s a real bummer. I hate it for him; it was odd. I actually talked to [Cowboys defensive coordinator] Dan Quinn earlier in the week, and he was raving about him, of how well he was doing, and he was, we all were seeing it.

“… [Overshown] is actually in really good spirits. I talked to him yesterday before his MRI, and he reached back out afterward. So he’s in good spirits; he’s in good hands.”