One of the bright young stars on the Dallas Cowboys defense, David Irving, has been out the last two weeks with a concussion. Irving suffered the injury in Week 13 against Washington. Yesterday, the defensive lineman provided an update via Twitter of how he was progressing.
Mentally I'm fine … I'm still having headaches every day. It's hard to put a finger on how long I'll be out. I'm taking it day by day.
— David Ja Rodd Irving (@Caliboy_95) December 20, 2017
Still dealing with concussion symptoms, Irving remains out of practice and his status going forward is unclear. One Cowboys reporter had some unfortunate insight into David's situation.
ALERT: Multiple sources tell @1053thefan that standout #Cowboys DL David Irving (concussion) is unlikely to play this week and could miss Week 17 as well. pic.twitter.com/qSx3PzW5qK
— fishsports (@fishsports) December 20, 2017
With the Cowboys needing to win out to have any shot at a playoff spot, losing David Irving would be a big blow. Despite only playing in eight games this year due to injury and his early four-game suspension, Irving is second on the team with seven sacks. That's about the same production rate than Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence.
Dallas has won its last two games without Irving, but the competition is about to pick up. They get Seattle and the elusive Russell Wilson this Sunday; the kind of quarterback Irving's athleticism and disruptive presence would have been welcome against.
Week 17 will send the Cowboys to Philadelphia, but just how hard the Eagles will try to win that game remains to be seen. Depending on how things go this week, Philly may have the top seed in the NFC locked up and be looking to rest starters.
More important than any of this, of course, is the health and well-being of David Irving. We wish him a full and speedy recovery.
