Last Saturday night didn’t end well for the Dallas Cowboys, who saw multiple players go down throughout the game, most notably Zack Martin and Xavier Woods. Preseason injuries are always the more painful ones, and when we’re talking about someone like Martin, it just makes it worse.
Martin suffered a knee injury and was ruled out after going down. ESPN’s Todd Archer tweeted out that a source had claimed the injury was a hyper-extended left knee. This surely would be great news considering the fear right now is a season-ending injury.
Zack is set to have an MRI on Sunday and the team is hopeful the injury isn’t that serious. We probably won’t see the All-Pro left guard return in the preseason but could see him back on the field as soon as September 9th when the Cowboys kick their season off at Carolina.
Besides Zack Martin being the best offensive guard in the NFL, the Cowboys’ offensive line depth is definitely not good. If his injury proves to be worse than what the front office believes, this offense will have to play without arguably their best player.
As we nervously await more news on Martin’s knee, there are more injured players to talk about.
Xavier Woods injured his hamstring as he made an effort to intercept the ball and was also ruled out for the game. We still don’t know about the severity, but we do know it’s the same hamstring that he dealt with last year.
Although Woods isn’t anywhere near Zack Martin as a football player, his injury comes at the team’s weakest position in depth. Jeff Heath, Kavon Frazier and Xavier Woods are the Cowboys’ only legitimate safeties that will earn a roster spot.
If the hamstring injury is serious enough to keep him sidelined for multiple weeks, we could see the Cowboys getting outside help for the defensive backfield. Whether that means trading for Earl Thomas, some other safety or looking at the free agents available, I don’t see the team going into the season with two safeties on the roster.
For now, we need to wait for more results regarding both of these players who will be detrimental to this team’s success in 2018. The Cowboys suffered more injuries than these ones, though.
Datone Jones has been impressive during his stay in Dallas and is a quality DT and was ruled out for the game after getting tangled up with the Bengal’s offensive line. Seventh-round draft pick Bo Scarbrough suffered a hip injury and is apparently not severe either.
Compared to Woods’ and Martin’s injuries, these ones won’t keep Cowboys’ fans up at night. However, hopefully they all turn out to be okay and ready to play as soon as possible. The team’s starters make this team a legit threat in the NFC, but when it comes to depth, they’re not in a good position.
