The Dallas Cowboys limped into Pittsburgh in Week 5, and crawled out of Acrisure Stadium on Monday even more wounded following their last-second 20-17 victory.
Dallas entered Sunday night without No. 2 wide receiver Brandin Cooks (knee), three-time All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons (high ankle sprain), four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence (Lisfranc, mid-foot sprain), All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland (foot stress fracture) and 2024 fifth-round pick cornerback Caelen Carson (shoulder). The Cowboys left the game without 2024 second-round pick edge rusher Marshawn Kneeland (knee) and 2024 first-round pick left tackle Tyler Guyton (knee).
"It [the win] shows me that our guys do step up," Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Tuesday at an event announcing the IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Arlington in March 2026. "You have to have that. If you're going to have a winning team over the course of a year with the injury attrition you can have, you got to have young players step up. That, to me, was the most important thing about the other night."
Down their top four edge rushers in Parsons, Lawrence, Kneeland and Sam Williams -- who tore his ACL in training camp -- it would make sense for the team to survey the landscape of available edge rushers. However, don't expect Dallas to make a blockbuster trade to beef up that position. Jones defined signing Washington Commanders 2023 fifth-round pick edge rusher K.J. Henry off of the Cincinnati Bengals practice squad last week as being "aggressive." Henry was inactive in Week 5, but he could ready to roll for Week 6 against the Detroit Lions after having time to learn the playbook.
"I agree with being aggressive, but the guys we got out there can be aggressive," Jones said. "Yes, let's be aggressive. We've got guys on the practice squad that can step up there and make those plays in volume. We brought in one [K.J. Henry from the Bengals practice squad] last week. Aggressive in the sense of being aggressive in letting the guys you have in this depth go play."
Chauncey Golston, Tyrus Wheat and Carl Lawson combined to produce 10 tackles, 1.5 sacks and four quarterback pressures in an effort in which Dallas' banged up defense limited Pittsburgh to 17 points and 226 total yards.
"The more of your depth that can play, that is a positive," Jones said. "You're in a dream world if you don't think you're going to have to play depth in the NFL. If that depth is young, then that's another step for the future games that are coming down the road this year."
Here is a look at where some of Dallas' key contributors' injury statuses stand prior to the first practice of Week 6 on Wednesday.
Parsons felt like he was "letting people down" after missing the first game of his football career in Week 6, but there is a chance he could play at home on Sunday against Detroit.
"He was in [Monday] for treatment, so I'll probably have a better gage of that Wednesday -- if he has a chance for Detroit," coach Mike McCarthy said on Monday. "He's got some work to do. Saw him Saturday before we left. We knew this week was going to be a stretch, so we'll have a better gage once we get to Wednesday."
"Well, he's close," Jones said of Parsons on Tuesday. "The real question for me is how close, and no one knows that at this time. We'll have to to see how the week goes."
Dallas' bye being right around the corner doesn't impact the decision-making about whether or not Parsons will play Sunday vs. the Lions in Jones' mind.
"I don't think you get down to that," Jones said when asked if the bye being close and not wanting the injury to linger being part of the decision-making process. "You either go [play] or you can't go. Anytime they get into the can't go business, it has to do that with that decision of 'would another week be that material on him not having another injury or that injury reopened.' So that's just part of the process. Again, how close is the biggest question of all."
Kneeland is having a procedure on Tuesday to fix a meniscus injury he suffered Sunday night in Pittsburgh, so Dallas will have a better picture in the coming days. However, the Cowboys do expect him to return at some point during the regular season.
"Don't have a total timeline, but yes he's scheduled for a procedure tomorrow is the initial plan," McCarthy said on Monday. "We'll see how that goes."
"I don't know," Jones said when asked how long Dallas will be without Kneeland. "I would just venture a shot at a month. I don't know if I'm including the bye weekend [in Week 7] or not. A month of games or a month of time. Certainly, just like [All-Pro corner] DaRon] Bland, we're going to get him back."
Bland, the 2023 NFL interceptions leader (nine) and NFL single-season pick-sixes record holder (five in 2023) had an initial recovery timeline of six to eight weeks after having a procedure on his foot to fix a stress fracture he suffered in the final week of training camp. Cowboys COO Stephen Jones followed up on his father's comments on Tuesday, making it seem like Bland could return in some capacity in Week 6 against the Lions.
"I think DaRon Bland has a real chance," Stephen Jones said, via DallasCowboys.com, on Tuesday. … "I don't know if he'll play the whole game but I think he's ready to start mixing it up. Short of a real setback, DaRon should be ready to dress and help us on the defensive side of the ball and the secondary."
Guyton's knee injury was still in the evaluation process as of Monday.
"Once again, when you have injuries, and I understand why you ask the question, but every timeline isn't set in the first 24 hours," McCarthy said. "That performance takes 48 to 72 hours to kind of get this thing figured out. So once you get out to practice, our practice will be an hour and five minutes Wednesday as opposed to an hour and 40 minutes. We'll get the information."
Should the rookie have to miss extended time, Dallas feels comfortable with Pro Bowl left guard Tyler Smith sliding over and continuing to play left tackle, something he did Sunday night, as a fill-in for Tyron Smith in spots as a rookie in 2022 and in college at Tulsa.
"Can't give enough respect for Tyler Smith to just jump out there and play the way he did," McCarthy said on Monday. "Their edge pieces, that's probably the best part of their team, frankly, in my opinion. T.J. Watt, just watching him hit the quarterbacks: not only is he a great player, [but] he's that way every play. His consistency, just his get off, the way he gets off on the snap of the ball. I think to play that guy on astroturf every week would be scary. Scarier. I felt really good about what Tyler [Smith] did outside, and then Cam Heyward, that's a tough matchup too for T.J. [Bass] and Brock [Hoffman], the two guys that got in there. So I love the way our guys battled. They kept me in a 50-50 mindset, which is important, because [it's not like] I felt like I wasn't able to throw the ball. ... When I can keep the quarterback in a rhythm, a big part of it is that offensive line, and they gave us that opportunity last night."
Carson, a fifth-round rookie out of Wake Forest, was thrown into the fire as Dallas' No. 2 outside corner after two-time Pro Bowl Trevon Diggs with Bland sidelined.
"Caelen, he's close. He was close this [past] week," McCarthy said on Monday. "Wednesday's practice won't be a huge indicator because we won't do as much, but we should know by Thursday."
Practice squad call-up Amani Oruwariye has filled in for Carson. He grabbed game-sealing interception off of New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones in Week 4, and defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer felt the 28-year-old Oruwariye was even better in Week 5.
"He was on top of the routes a lot better this week," Zimmer said on Monday. ... "For coming in and really being here in training camp, he's done a good job."
