There is an unfortunate imbalance in the injury reports for the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles heading into their big Week 11 game on Sunday Night Football. Given that this is Inside The Star and not Under The Wing or Inside The Dumpster, you know that imbalance doesn’t favor the Boys in blue.
Here is a look at who is confirmed out and also potentially missing for Dallas and Philadelphia in tomorrow night’s game:
Dallas Cowboys
- TE Geoff Swaim (knee) – Questionable
- OT Tyron Smith (back/groin) – Questionable
- DT Maliek Collins (foot) – Questionable
- LB Sean Lee (hamstring) – OUT
- S Jeff Heath (concussion) – OUT
- K Dan Bailey (groin) – OUT
Sean Lee has already been ruled out and we know what a massive blow that is for the Cowboys defense. Dallas is 1-1 in games that Lee partially missed and 0-2 in the games he missed completely. Those two losses against the Rams and Packers were both close games that, arguably, Lee could have swung in Dallas’ favor if he’d played.
Kicker Dan Bailey will also miss his fourth game with a groin injury. Mike Nugent has gone 4-of-6 since being signed to fill in for Bailey.
Starting safety Jeff Heath has also been ruled out of the game with ongoing concussion issues. Rookie Xavier Woods, whose interception last week in Atlanta was one of the game’s few positives, will get the start.
While he seems unlikely to play after missing the full week of practice, Tyron Smith has not been ruled out yet. Even a banged up Tyron should be better than Byron Bell or Chaz Green, so the Cowboys will hold out hope that he can feel good enough to suit up tomorrow night.
DT Maliek Collins keeps being limited in practice but has yet to miss a game, so there’s no indication that he will be out tomorrow. The same is likely true for TE Geoff Swaim, who was limited all week but should be good to go on Sunday.
Let’s end the Cowboys side of this on a positive note. Rookie defensive back Chidobe Awuzie was finally a full practice participant all week and should return to action for the first time since Week 2. Awuzie, Dallas’ second-round pick in 2017, could see time at both corner and safety.
Philadelphia Eagles
- WR Alshon Jeffery – Questionable
I told you it was imbalanced, didn’t I?
The only active player with a chance of not playing Sunday is Jeffery, and after he was a full practice participant on Friday that “Questionable” should probably be upgraded. It is highly unlikely that Jeffery would miss a pivotal primetime game, and especially against an exploitable secondary.
Just as a reminder, the Eagles do at least have some key guys on injured reserve. OT Jason Peters and LB Jordan Hicks both landed on IR in Philly’s Week 7 game against Washington. RB Darren Sproles has also been out since Week 3, but the mid-season addition of Jay Ajayi has offset that loss fairly well.
