Jess Haynie
The Cowboys’ defensive line is starting to remind of us the offensive line from 2020. Injuries abound right now at both end and tackle with several players already declared out for Monday night’s game against the Eagles. Now DE Bradlee Anae is joining the absentees after going into the COVID-19 protocol.
Anae was getting more work in his second season. After barely existing in his rookie year, the former 5th-round pick was in on 24% of the defensive snaps and 53% of special teams plays over the first two weeks.
Now the Cowboys will have to adjust for yet another missing defensive linemen against Philadelphia.
DE Bradlee Anae is on the reserve/COVID-19 list. He was not at practice and will miss Monday's game vs. Philadelphia. Another hit for the Cowboys defensive line.
Cowboys DE Bradlee Anae is the team's 12th player to be placed on Reserve/COVID-19 since Aug. 21. At least seven tested positive during that span, not including DC Dan Quinn.
As of Friday, here are the defensive players that the #Cowboys will likely be without for #PHIvsDAL
– Dorance Armstrong
– Carlos Watkins
– Bradlee Anae
– Donovan Wilson (Questionable)
– Keanu Neal
– DeMarcus Lawrence
– Neville Gallimore (Preseason)
– Trysten Hill (Preseason)
Thankfully there will be some offsetting returns this week. The key one is Randy Gregory coming off the COVID list and resuming his starting role.
Dallas also looks forward to the debut of rookie Chauncey Golston, who should be active for this time this year after missing all of camp and preseason the PUP list.
Still, we’re looking very thin at DE with just Gregory, Golston, Tarell Basham, and Azur Kamara active for the game. Expect to see plenty more of LB Micah Parsons as a pass rusher to help weather the storm.
Another help to the Cowboys are some injuries on the Eagles’ starting offensive line. Guard Brandon Brooks is on IR and OT Jordan Mailata is expected to miss Monday’s game. Center Jason Kelce is also dealing with foot issue but should play this week.
In reality, missing Bradlee Anae wouldn’t be a big deal if we had Lawrence and Armstrong healthy. Anae wouldn’t factor much into the rotation at that point. But those absences up top made him a more critical asset, and would’ve given the young DE a nice chance to show what he can do.
Hopefully he can return in Week 4 and contribute as the season rolls along.
The last line was supposed to say we’ll definitely be screwed if we lose them
I agree, I’d rather give the other players more playing time and getting more experience, but the problem is that we’re running out of players!! We went from having 8 or 9 edge rushers to now having 4,not including Micah Parsons!! That’s not a good thing!! Dan Quinn likes to have a heavy rotation on the line so nobody gets wore out during the game, but with us down to only 4 edge rushers and maybe 3 DT, there’s not enough players to rotate in and out, which means our defense will be wore out and tired before we get into the 4th quarter!! And that’s something we can’t have happen, especially this week against our rivals, who have a duel threat at QB!! And the worst part about it is that we have no idea when these players will be able to come back!! Bradley Anae is the only one that has a chance to come back next week, but the rest of the line is out due to injury!! I sure hope Chauncey Golston comes in and plays lights out and stays healthy, and Randy Gregory don’t have any problems from his week off with covid…. We’ll definitely be screwed then!!
We need to roll with what we got. Unlikely any FA out there would be much of an upgrade. Continue to develop the guys that are familiar with the system. Gallimore should be back soon and we will get healthier as we go along. Upside is alot of players are getting valuable experience.
Tough hits, but next man up. Maybe signing a FA, but who is available? Can they bring up B Speaks if necessary?
It’s looking like we need to look at some free agents at DE!! Idk about anybody else, but I’m not feeling too good about Basham, Golston, or Kamara!! The only ones left is Randy Gregory and Micah Parsons and they can’t do it all themselves!! We need to sign some help asap!!