Tomorrow the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers will lock horns in their first (and for one team, their only) playoff game of the 2021 season. Both teams are relatively healthy at this late point in the football year, but there were a few items on the injury reports that we should consider.
The biggest stories for both teams are the players who won’t miss the game. The Cowboys got back a slew of key talent who missed the Week 18 finale in Philadelphia for various reasons; RB Tony Pollard, OT Tyron Smith, LB Micah Parsons, CB Trevon Diggs, CB Anthony Brown, and S Jayron Kearse.
San Francisco had some concerns as well as RB Elijah Mitchell and OT Trent Williams both missed Wednesday’s practice with knee and elbow issues, respectively. But the two offensive starters were limited on Thursday and full participants yesterday, so no concerns remain about their availability for Sunday.
Let’s see who has been declared out, or is at least questionable, for this game.
Dallas Cowboys
- LB Keanu Neal (chest/elbow) – OUT
- S Israel Mukuamu (hamstring) – OUT
Dallas will be without veteran Linebacker Keanu Neal tomorrow. While he hasn’t been the impact player we hoped for last offseason, Neal has played a significant role on defense by playing at least 60% of the snaps in five of his last seven games.
Missing Neal will mean more work Leighton Vander Esch, who thankfully has been stepping it up toward the end of the season. It could also pull Luke Gifford into additional snaps when Micah Parsons is being used as a pass rusher.
We may also see safeties Jayron Kearse and Donovan Wilson deployed in hybrid roles, particularly on passing downs, to help mitigate the missing linebackers.
Speaking of safeties, rookie Israel Mukuamu has also been declared out with a hamstring injury. But having been inactive most of the season anyway, his absence isn’t really an issue.
San Francisco 49ers
- LB Azeez Al-Shaair (knee) – Questionable
- LB Marcell Harris (Achilles) – Questionable
- S Talanoa Hufanga (knee) – Questionable
- P Mitch Wishnowsky (concussion) – Questionable
While Fred Warner gets most of the attention from the 49ers linebacker corps, fellow starter Azeez Al-Shaair plays a huge role and produces roughly the same statistics per game as his All-Pro teammate. After missing three of the last four games with a knee issue, Al-Shaair was limited in practice this week and then missed Friday completely.
While the 49ers have not yet ruled Azeez out for Sunday, a DNP on a Friday is generally not a good sign. What’s more, backup Marcell Harris is dealing with an Achilles issue. The LB depth could be put to the test on Sunday if Al-Shaair can’t go.
Backup safety Talanoa Hufanga doesn’t play a huge role but has started three games in 2021 and appeared in 15 total. He reaggravated a knee injury in the Week 18 finale and was limited all week.
Punter Mitch Wishnowsky is in concussion protocol and his status will be determined later today. San Francisco does have another punter, journeyman Ryan Winslow, on the practice squad but this could be a big shakeup on special teams that nobody wants in a playoff game.
