Dallas Cowboys 2022 NFL preseason round-up: Jourdan Lewis, Michael Gallup, Brett Maher…
The Cowboys made their roster cuts to take the team down to 80 men. As they look ahead to the final preseason game, they are getting healthier.
Cowboys round 2 roster cuts
The NFL’s 80-man roster cut deadline was on Tuesday and the Cowboys trimmed five players: kicker Lirim Hajrullahu, cornerback Quandre Mosley, wide receiver Jaquarii Roberson, and Christian Sam were all cut and tight end Jeremy Sprinkle was moved to Injured Reserve.
For a list of roster cuts for all 32 NFL teams, check out this article.
It’s not a big surprise that Hajrullahu was cut. That leaves Brett Maher as the Cowboys’ only kicker since they released Jonathan Garibay earlier in August.
Neither Mosley, Roberson, or Sam could make much out of their opportunities in the preseason. The final cuts to the 53-man roster will be on Tuesday, August 30.
Injury Update: Jourdan Lewis, Michael Gallup
Good news for the Cowboys regarding cornerback Jourdan Lewis - it looks like he’s on track to start the regular season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on September 11. During the first scrimmage against the Los Angeles Chargers last week, Lewis tweaked his hamstring and was ruled out of the rest of the preseason, though he likely would not have played those games anyway. Lewis signed a three-year extension in 2021, and over the last two years, Lewis had 26 starts with 11 pass breakups, three interceptions, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, and 61 combined tackles. His participation in the regular season though will be of much more importance.
Though some cuts were made yesterday, one thing stayed the same. That’s wide receiver Michael Gallup’s status - he remains on the PUP list. The NFL made a slight change to their rules this year that allows teams to move players from the Active/PUP list to the Reseve/PUP list on roster cuts. The Cowboys could have moved Gallup to the Reserve/PUP list to free a roster spot, but that would keep him out for at least the first four weeks of the season. By leaving him off that for now, it could mean there’s hope that he has recovered enough to play before Week 5 of the regular season.
By Tuesday, they will have to decide whether or not to keep him on the PUP list again, but hopefully in a week’s time, they’ll have a better idea of his timeline.
Back to Dallas: Training camp notes, live practices
The Cowboys are back in Dallas for their training camps this week ahead of their final preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks this Friday. The Cowboys hosted an open practice, “Cowboys Night” at the Star in Frisco yesterday and it was a success. Tonight, they’ll host another open practice at 6 p.m. local time, which fans can attend for free.
Camp injury update:
The CeeDee Lamb scare from last week looks to have been just that, as he was back at practice and looking as good as ever yesterday. Rookie OT Matt Waletzko was also back on the field after suffering a shoulder injury at the start of camp. QB Will Grier came back from his groin injury last week and continued practice yesterday, appearing to be just fine. Safety Jayron Kearse returned to practice after a back injury and WR Noah Brown returned after a toe injury. Rookie first-round pick OT Tyler Smith suffered a minor ankle injury and sat out Tuesday’s practice.
Other camp notes:
The Cowboys had a padded practice yesterday and coach Mike McCarthy plans to continue that. He said he feels good about where the starters are at heading into the regular season. Quarterback Dak Prescott threw one interception, picked by CB Anthony Brown. Besides that moment, he looked good, completing passes to WRs Lamb and Tolbert.
Dak Prescott, several starters won’t play final preseason game
Coach Mike McCarthy plans to keep Prescott and the majority of the starters out on Friday for the Cowboys’ final preseason game against the Seahawks. Rather than using it as a dress rehearsal as some other teams do, McCarthy prefers to play it safe and avoid unnecessary risk of injuries to starters (makes sense considering their lack of depth at nearly every offensive position). Instead, he plans to hand over the majority of the work at practices on Tuesday and Wednesday to the starters and then have them sit out on Friday.
“If we can get the ones enough work the way I anticipate, then we will play the third game like we did the first two,” McCarthy said.
Last year, McCarthy sat Prescott out for the entirety of the preseason as well, though at that point he was still recovering from a severe ankle injury. McCarthy feels good about doing so again, using the joint practices as his indicator for where his starters (not just Prescott) are at. He also emphasized how well the team practices at their facility in Oxnard, California, and that he trusts the work they get done there.
“I wouldn’t leave Oxnard until we have to next year,” McCarthy said. “I’d consider staying there this week. Our practice environment in Onxard...I am so pleased with it. We got a lot of work done there. I think Oxnard has been a tremendous asset for us to train.”
Cowboys reveal “arctic” helmet
The Cowboys announced one uniform change earlier in the offseason. For the Thanksgiving game, they will sport their throwbacks when they take on the New York Giants. Now, they announced another new change - a brand new, “Arctic” helmet that they will wear in Week 17 against the Tennessee Titans.
The Cowboys so far are the only team to reveal more than one alternate helmet. The new helmet has a white shell and white facemask, the first non-gray facemark the Cowboys have ever worn. The star logo is on the side. The Cowboys will debut the new helmets to be worn with their color rush uniforms on December 29.