Cowboys lose 2 defenders to injury, including promising rookie

I hope everyone out there enjoyed Thanksgiving with their families. I hope the food was delicious, the company was pleasant, and every person in the house was happy after a Dallas Cowboys victory.

Never mind that one aunt who brings yet another boyfriend to dinner who just happens to hate the Dallas Cowboys. He might be a San Francisco 49ers fan, or maybe even of an obscure AFC team, but somehow he can’t stand America’s Team.

Sorry Uncle Gary, the Dallas Cowboys took down the New York Giants on Thanksgiving Day in front of a raucous home crowd and a record viewership. Fox estimates that the peak of 41.3 million viewers will be the highest mark of their 2024 broadcast season.

The Cowboys secured their first home victory of the 2024 season, and their first win on their home turf since squeaking out a victory over the Detroit Lions on December 30th, 2023. Cowboys fans hadn’t experienced a win at home for nearly 11 months.

Big games from EDGE Micah Parsons and LB DeMarvion Overshown are great topics to focus on, but it wasn’t all victories on that field for the Cowboys on Thursday. In the process, two more defenders have fallen victim to the injury bug, and one of them is serious enough to be season-ending.

Closing Down #31 Island

One of the best stories of the season across all the NFL has been the ascension of CB Josh Butler from practice squad player to the 53-man roster to meaningful minutes on the field for the Cowboys.

Butler played his college career at Michigan State University, and was signed to the Cowboys’ practice squad in July of 2023. He played well enough for the Cowboys to sign him to a reserve/futures contract on January 15, 2024.

The former Spartan went down with a non-contact knee injury while in coverage on Thanksgiving Day. Butler’s knee buckled as he planted his leg to attempt to make a play on the football, and he was soon carted off by the Cowboys’ medical staff.

Tests would reveal his worst fears: a torn ACL. It is a devastating blow to a player who finally broke through into the starting lineup, and played well under DC Mike Zimmer’s scheme.

Many thought Butler was just another failed attempt at boundary cornerback with Trevon Diggs out with injury, but he showed up and played better than any of us could have expected last week versus Washington. His stat line of 12 tackles, 3 passes defensed, and 1.0 sacks had Cowboys Twitter/X buzzing with excitement.

That excitement was short-lived, however, and now the Cowboys will have to go back to the drawing board if the injuries continue to pile up. I look forward to seeing Butler recover and play a role in this defense in 2025.

Juanyeh Goes Down

The Cowboys got another scare on Thursday afternoon when up and coming S Juanyeh Thomas fell down to the turf grasping at his knee. Thomas was in obvious pain, and had to be helped off of the field by trainers.

After already seeing Butler go down with an injury, we all collectively held our breath awaiting the results of Thomas’ MRI. Thankfully, the diagnosis will only keep him off of the field for a projected 2-3 weeks, and there was no significant damage to his knee structure.

Fans have been clamoring for Juanyeh to get more snaps on a defense that had been struggling to cover opposing wide receivers down the field with the safeties. Thomas brings an attitude to the field that is dangerous when mixed with his football smarts.

The defense has been playing better as Juanyeh has played more snaps, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. There are five games left in the regular season, and if, by some miracle, the Cowboys get back into the playoff race, Thomas would be a key piece on the defense for that playoff push.