By: Caelan Clinton, Jeff Howe and Saad Yousuf
The Dallas Cowboys are now down both of its premier edge rushing talents following Thursday night’s win over the New York Giants, a league source said Friday.
Edge rusher Micah Parsons has been diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain following Thursday night’s game against the New York Giants, and while his timeline is still undetermined, he is expected to miss game time due to the injury, per the league source.
Meanwhile, DeMarcus Lawrence is also expected to game action after suffering a foot injury versus the Giants, per reports.
Parsons was carted off the field with 3:30 left to play in the 20-15 victory after being rolled up under a Giants player. He was seen limping between the training room and the locker room following the game and underwent both an X-ray and MRI. Parsons finished the game with two solo tackles and a tackle for loss.
The 25-year-old All-Pro edge rusher is in the midst of a pivotal season in Dallas, staving off extension talks earlier this offseason while teammates Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb negotiated their respective deals. On the season, Parsons has four combined tackles and one sack through his first four games. His active streak of three games without a sack is just the second time in his career that he has gone that long without a recorded sack, according to Stathead.
Lawrence is dealing with a foot injury unrelated to the broken foot suffered in 2021. Lawrence underwent surgery in September 2021 and was placed on injured reserve after breaking his foot but returned to play later that season. He continued to appear on Dallas’ injury report with foot injuries during the 2022 season.
Lawrence’s three sacks and four tackles for loss both lead the Cowboys’ defense through four games, while his five quarterback hits are second behind Parsons’ six.
The NFL Network first reported news of both injuries.
How loss of edge rushers impacts Cowboys
The Cowboys are fortunate that they didn’t lose Lawrence or Parsons long term but being without both at the same time will present significant challenges in the coming weeks.
Lawrence is the Cowboys’ best run-stopping defensive lineman, and the Cowboys have been terrible against the run this season, even with Lawrence. Without him, things have the potential to get even uglier.
The upcoming schedule doesn’t do the Cowboys any favors, either. They travel to Pittsburgh next week and then have the Detroit Lions the week after that before getting a breather with their bye week. Without Parsons and Lawrence, the Cowboys are without their top three defensive linemen, as they lost Sam Williams for the season in training camp. A struggling unit is left even more vulnerable for the next few weeks. — Saad Yousuf, Cowboys beat writer
(Photo: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)
