The Dallas Cowboys had their first day of training camp in Oxnard, California, Wednesday.
The day went as expected, with players getting their feet wet; unfortunately, the Cowboys joined the injury party early.
Donovan Wilson and Israel Mukuamu were banged up during the first day of camp.
Wilson was carted off the practice field with a calf strain, so the Cowboys avoided a big-time loss here.
Early reports have said he will miss about a month with rehab and rest. Wilson should be good to go when the Cowboys take on the Giants in week one.
Mukuamu is a guy I talked about two or three times this offseason.
He showed terrific flashes last year and could be a big-time player on the defense this year.
He went down with a hamstring injury. Reports also say he will be sidelined for multiple weeks like Wilson.
With both of them sidelined for the next month or so, that leaves the door open for a player to grow his stock for Dan Quinn.
Markquese Bell
Standing at 6’2, 212 pounds with 4.41 speed, he went undrafted from Florida A&M last year.
Quinn said last year he even wanted to draft him as a linebacker. Maybe if he shows something the next few weeks, he finds a spot there.
LVE and Jabril Cox are the only two that are sitting pretty at the position now.
He made the 53-man roster and was on it all year in 2022. As a senior at A&M, Bell led the defense with 95 tackles and five forced fumbles.
Next man up, the door is WIDE open. I would rather have him than Kelvin Joseph.
Bell found most of his snaps on special teams in 2022. That is where he played 54% of his eligible snaps.
With Wilson going down, Jayron Kearse is the only starter from 2022.
Bell has a huge chance to prove that he should be on the field more times than not on defense and not on special teams.
He already has confidence from making the 53-man roster last year as a UDFA.
This should fire him up even more.
It’s only the first week, and the Cowboys got hit with a few injuries.
Again, luckily for them, they happened early, and both Wilson and Mukuamu won’t miss the season opener against the Giants.
These happen when you have two to three months off from football.
This is only the start, and making the 53-man roster will be a battle right down to the last few weeks.
Regardless of what happens the next few weeks, if the team avoids any major injuries, they are stacked on both sides of the ball.
This defense has a chance to be the best in all of football this year.
We can revisit this in the next few weeks, but Bell finally get’s his chance to show what he’s got.
Some people are built for moments like this, and the way he looked to make the 53-man roster in 2022, I think he still is. Time will tell.