With the first practice of their 2022 training camp happening today, the Dallas Cowboys finally had to make some official declarations on players with lingering medical issues. The big news is that second-year linebacker Jabril Cox did not receive any injury designation and will be practicing in full with his teammates.
As we projected a few days ago, Michael Gallup and Damone Clark will not be participating due to their ongoing recoveries from respective knee and spinal surgeries. Gallup will be joined on the PUP list by three of Dallas’ undrafted free agents this year: WR Dontario Drummond, LB Aaron Hansford, and CB Quandre Mosely.
Getting Cox back to start camp is the big win here. He tore an ACL in Week 8 and brought a sudden end to what was starting to look like a breakout for the then-rookie. Jabril’s potential to contribute in 2022 was a big reason that Dallas didn’t pursue any major LB additions this offseason.
Now Cox will likely compete with Leighton Vander Esch for reps and the secondary role at linebacker behind Micah Parsons. We could see Cox used more in passing situations and Vander Esch for run support; a steady rotation between the two.
The key is getting Jabril back on the field and building on the flashes we saw last year. Thankfully, that process is starting today.
