Cowboys lose 3 key players after week 1 loss

The Dallas Cowboys opened up their season with a tough road loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, giving fans plenty to be excited about moving forward. Since then, the Cowboys have received both good and bad news about their team moving forward.

Starting with the good news, All-Pro guard Zack Martin was removed from the COVID-19 list Monday. Martin is one of the best in the entire league at his position, and certainly makes the Cowboys a better team when he’s on the field. While his backup, Connor McGovern, did a solid job in his absence, the return of an All-Pro caliber player is always a great thing.

Unfortunately for Dallas, there has been more bad than good. Wide receiver Michael Gallup got off to a strong start in the season opener against Tampa Bay, catching four passes for 36 yards. Although the wide receiver left the game early with a calf injury, and has since been placed on the injured reserve list, keeping him out until at least Oct. 10.

That was far from the only key player the Cowboys lost this week though. Late last week it was announced right tackle La’el Collins will miss five games, after being suspended for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. 

On top of the two offensive players Dallas will now be missing, they could very well be without one of their defensive leaders as well. Pass rusher Randy Gregory has been placed on the COVID-19 list and is availability for this week’s game is in question. 

While the defensive captain has tested positive for COVID-19, he can return as soon as he produces two negative tests. If he is unable to play, it is expected that Dorance Armstrong will fill in for Gregory.

As for the absence of Gallup, it appears that Cedrick Wilson will get the majority of his snaps. Wilson was targeted three times in the Cowboys season opener, and he caught all three passes for a total of 24 yards. While he isn’t the talent that Gallup is, Wilson has plenty of experience with quarterback Dak Prescott and has proven he can be a serviceable option. Dallas also has Noah Brown and Simi Fehoko who could see some action as well.

As for Collins’ absence, things get a bit trickier. With as well as McGovern has played, a lot of fans hoped that he would continue to play right guard, and Zack Martin would slid over to right tackle. As of now, it appears the Cowboys will be moving McGovern back to the bench, and Terrance Steele will fill in at right tackle. 

Steele got plenty of experience in 2020, playing in all 16 games for the Cowboys, although fans were less than pleased with what they saw. The rookie started 14 games and played in 85% of the teams snaps, although he didn’t do so at a very efficient rate. Pro Football Focus gave him a grade of 50.3.

For comparison, Martin who is a right guard, has a grade of 78.0 while playing right tackle and an even higher grade of 87.1 at his primary position. McGovern, Martin’s backup, has a grade of 65.8 at the guard position. The combination of McGovern at guard and Martin at tackle seems to be the better option on paper, but for now at least, Dallas will be going with Martin at guard and Steele at tackle.

How long this decision lasts will depend entirely on how Steele plays. With Collins’ being out for the next five weeks, it is very possible the Cowboys go with multiple looks before he returns. 

Dallas will have their hands full this weekend, as they travel to face the Los Angeles Chargers Sunday. The Chargers walked away with a 20-16 road win over Washington in week one and will be hoping to advance to 2-0 win another win this week.

A more detailed preview of Sunday’s matchup will be published in Saturday’s edition of the News-Telegram. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:25 p.m. Sunday.